The Seventh Star
by AaronAlvin
Summary: AU. Alexander Shadowheart, a Noname, was born into a life of hardship and despair. After the death of his Uncle Alex found himself in a ancient order. After one of his missions goes wrong Alex finds himself in a whole new world and gains powers that will shape the world around him. HEAVY T for Blood, Violence, and Language.
1. Chapter I: Noname

***Updated 12/30/15. Errors fixed and contents added/removed.***

 **This is my first story so I might make a few mistakes here or there. I wanted to make this because I liked the idea of Louise finding a familiar with a little more interesting backstory and life than some random kid from Tokyo.**

 **This first Chapter is mainly the backstory on our MC, so we won't get to spend much time in Halkeginia until the end of the chapter.**

 **I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

The city of Corvans, the capital of Dermina was often called the City of Light for the white stone that had been used to construct it. The city's history dated all the way back to the First Star of Ortainal.

It had stood for thousands of years before it had been sacked by Count Delmon Trenise in the time of the Lord Third. The city had burned that day, along with all knowledge concerning the life of Lords First and Second.

The Third was able to hold the keep of the city for a time, but even he was overrun by the onslaught of the Grustanian Army. After the death of Lord Third and the fall of Corvans Dermina had been annexed into Grustane for fifty-four years before the Fourth Star Dravis Convalos had arisen. Leading a rebellion against the Grustanians, it what came to known as the War of Corvans, he was able to retake Corvans and establish the nation of Dertain once more.

Lord Dravis then commanded the reconstruction of the city to its former glory and was even said to have used his magical influence to form the grand white walls of the newly remade city. After that the Third Star or his Lord rained over the nation for three hundred years before vanishing into the Mountains Hilional, never to be seen again.

His legacy still stood proudly stood overlooking the outer city of Oldtown. Oldtown had been built shortly after the start of construction for the new city. It had been made of the ruins of Old Corvans. It had originally been used as a base of operations for the builders reconstructing the white city, though it had never been removed, and was now the dumping ground for the poor folk of Corvans.

The city had expanded in the years after the finished construction of Corvans and had a mass of wooden buildings expanding to the outer edge of Oldtown. After an influx of crime had broken out in Corvans fueled by the poverty and despair from Oldtown, instead of helping the people, the nobility of the Capital banned residents of Oldtown entry without a permit, upon penalty of death.

The residents of Oldtown attempted to defy this decree, but upon an attempt to storm the city gate the mob was quickly cut down by the Brankar. The Keepers of Code they were able to push the mob back into Oldtown, soon after there was a purge within the city. It was believed by the Nobility that the mob was lead by a group of Nonames. Those found without one of the five codes were taken and publicly executed in the center square of Oldtown it what came to be called the Cleansing.

There was little difference between the a commoner with a Code and a Noname, but those in the church had declared them as blasphemists in the eyes of Ortainal, and after the Cleansing had been decreed as and endangerment to Dertain and orders were given to kill any Noname that they came into contact with.

The Codes that differed the Nonames from the rest of the world were found upon a person's left chest. There were five different Codes for the people of the world. Those born with a Code that had the ability to use magic are known as the Brankar, keepers of the Code.

The Five Codes are made up of the Code of Fire and wind, the Code of Water and Ice, the Code of Earth and Medal, the Code of Life, and the Code of Death. But above the Five Codes was the Codes of Light that had only appeared six times in the history of the world. Those with the Code of Light were known as the Stars of their Lord Ortainal. Those with the Code of Light held the power the other Five Codes within one, and the magic they held amplified their powers beyond imagination. These Codes tied people to the world itself, a quality that Noname didn't hold.

After the Cleansing the majority of children born a Noname didn't live past infancy, many being either left in the streets to die, or smothered to death shortly after birth. The few that were able to survive into their youth still lived under the constant threat of the Brankar.

This was the world of Alexander Shadowheart. Born a Noname Alexander had never known a normal life. The fear of the Brankar always had loomed over him as he attempted to live out his childhood in Oldtown. Shortly after his birth, he had been found lying in a gutter in the streets, left for dead by his own parents.

Alexander would have died in those streets had it not been for a local blacksmith, Jonathan Groundborne found him crying on his way home from the local mead hall. Jonathan was an older man and a commoner with the Code of Earth and Medal. John was a tall man, he had a once held a think black head and a long beard of hair but in his old age, it now was mixed with strands of gray though both his head and face.

Knowing that the boy was without a Code, he took pity on the boy. In his youth he had witnessed his younger sister murdered first hand after she was found to be without a code, his parents were forced to watch before being hauled away, though he was left behind, orphaned.

Looking at the boy, he saw that he held the same exact emerald green eyes as sister had once looked upon him with. He shared both her and this infant's green orbs though his had grown to hold only disappear for some time now.

Picking up the Child he stole him away the child and took him with him back to his home, and as he held the boy he promised himself he wouldn't watch him die like he had his sister.

Alex awoke to pounding on his door quickly rising, "I'm up uncle!" Alex yelled as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Yawning Alex walked out into the storefront of his uncle's shop. Walking over, he picked up a dagger that was sitting on the counter. He had made it himself, he had just turned twelve and had recently been expected to help his Uncle run the family forge.

Alex love working, he knew that most children his age dreaded work, and many feel it like the pledge but he had found it far better than being stuck inside all the time.

When he was younger his uncle had explained to him that his parents had left him here because they thought it was safer for him her than with them. Alex had been told all his life that because he didn't have a Code that if one of the Brankar would take him away though his uncle wouldn't tell him what would happen next though Alex had a good idea.

After a moment, Alex saw his uncle come out from the forge outside, "Alexander, get your apron on, you're going to sharpen those knives you made the other day." His uncle ordered.

Grabbing the garment from where it hung on its hook, just beside the door that leads out to the forge, Alex through it over his head and rushed into the forge trying the strap on his back to secure the garment. Quickly retrieving his gloves, the boy picked up a whetstone and walked over to the table holding the dull knives.

After hours of grinding the weapons, Alex was starting to grow tired. His uncle had been working on a new blade for some time but had left the blade in the fire to temper the weapon.

Wiping the sweat from his brow he looked up to see a man dressed in thick black plated armor with a crimson colored brooch that was fastened to the armor by a pin in the shape of the Code of Death.

"Pardon me, I need to acquire a sword for my squire, nothing to expensive, the boy is only just starting to train." The man looked around and saw a blade sitting to the side of the table, "That one looks like it will do."

"You there, boy!" the man yelled. As Alex heard this he jumped at the sound and quickly turned and faced the man.

"Y-yes sir?" Alex managed to get out. The man frightened Alex, who had heard of the powers that the Knights, who it was said had the power to kill anyone of common decent, with little to no repercussions if they so wished. But then again Alex feared most people, after years of his uncle telling him that if he wasn't careful that he would be put in grave danger his origin was to be reviled.

"Take this sword and strap it to my squire's horse." The man said as he turned to leave the shop.

"Yes sir." Alex said as he taking the sword from the man. Alex then turned and walked out in the street making his way to the knights horses.

The young man that was with the knight who was undoubtedly the square in question. The boy looked only about a year or two older than Alex. The boy had long curly brown hair that covered most of his eyes. He boy had on brown leather armor that was atop a bright red undershirt. Holding the reins of both the horses he saw Alex approaching and gave gave him a distasteful look. As Alex arrived he began to tie the sword to the saddle of the horse that whose reins wherein loosely in the boys left hand.

That's when it happened. To Alex it seemed as if everything had slowed down. First, a man on a carriage cracked his whip, which startled the younger of the two horses that Alex was fastening the sword to. The young horse rose up and before Alex saw what was happening the beast was already coming down hard forcing Alex to the ground. As he made contact with the ground Alex felt a sharp pain in his left side as a sharp rock from the road cut through his sleeve and dig into his shoulder.

As Alex pushed himself up on his elbows he felt some blood trickle down his arm and forehead. The knight looked over and took a step forward to help before he froze and pulled out his sword. "Devil spawn!" He spat looking upon Alex's left shoulder, where a code should have been, but his its nakedness only told him that he was nothing but a lowly Noname.

Alex had but a moment to look down and see that his sleeve had been nearly ripped in half by the rock, which had left a deep cut in the place of bare skin and as a steady stream of blood oozed out.

Looking up he saw the knight charge. Alex was shocked by the closing speed of the man, now only seeing cold steel racing toward his head head. Closing his eyes, Alex awaited the blow to take him into its cold embrace. But instead of a shearing pain, Alex heard the sharp high pitched ring of steel hitting steel. As he opened his eyes Alex saw his Uncle John shielding him from the knight.

"Run!" he heard his Uncle grunt out as the man recoiled at the idea of someone protecting a Noname.

"If you value the life of a Noname like him then fine, I'll cut through you as well!" The knight said as he took another swing only for his Uncle to barely react in time to block the assault, but it was obvious he only lasted so long on pure luck alone.

"Run you fool!" his Uncle barked as sense came back to Alex he saw the squire running toward him. Alex immanently grabbed the very same rock that had cut his arm and rose slamming it into the forehead to the boy before he leaped upon the very same horse that had struck him. Digging the stirrups into the horse and Alex began to flee the city.

As he looked back he immediately wish he hadn't as he saw his uncle bleeding heavily from a deep gash in his stomach as the man held his head down and was chanting something before a black beam flew from his right hand and headed straight for Alex. The beam would have hit its mark had it not been for a man stepping in front of it as he left his house to see what all the noise had been about.

As the beam intended for him hit the man, Alex saw his uncle fall forward, motionless. The man who had been hit instantly ragdolled.

Alex rode after that for what had seemed like hours before stopping. Collapsing on the side of the road Alex began sobbing. He knew that there was no question to it, his Uncle John had died. After all, no one could survive death magic.

* * *

Four years had passed since that day had come and gone, and now Alex stood atop the old bell tower in the center square of Old Town. He had finally returned. He noted that not much had changed from when he had left aside from a few new shakes that took the place of ones he could only assume had caved in on themselves, a common occurrence in Old Town.

Pulling the hood of his black cloak over his head Alex descended below into the crowd of people who were either making their ways back home to one for the taverns or inns for the night. The sun was starting to set and the Old Town wasn't considered safe in waning hours of the day.

After a while the white walls of Corvans came had come into view. When he had finally arrived at the wall he noted that the wall was protected a powerful Earth magic that must have been left over from it formation by the Fourth Star of Ortainal.

He turned and walked forward and slipped into the city with a group of merchants late to arrive into the city with their goods that they planned to sell the next morning before the coronation took place.

After he was well passed the gate he took a moment to observe his surroundings. To his surprise the city of Crovans lived up to everything he had ever heard about it.

The white walls surrounded a massive collection of white buildings made of marble walls with black granite pillars supporting them. Overlooking the rest of the city was the Castle of Dertainia the center of the world and home to the Grand Keeper, Branyer Blackheart XII.

Alex followed the group of men into the city for a time until he slipped into an alleyway and proceeded to stick to the shadows for the remainder of his journey.

As he moved further and further into the heart of the city Alex found that the patrols along with the size of the buildings seemed to become larger the closer he got to the castle and he had to move slower and more cautiously.

After a long few hours of sneaking through the city he had arrived to the westernmost wall of Castle Dertaina and said a silent prayer to whoever might be listening that he wouldn't be spotted as he began his climb to the top of the wall.

As he stuck his hand into the thin cracks that had formed over ages of weathering he pulled himself up, he had worn black fingerless gloves for the exact purpose of giving himself better grip for climbing. when the cracks became to small for his fingers to slip into Alex pulled out his combat knife that Kellinar had given him before he had left the Order of Shadows. "This is my only gift to you, I send you into the world now no longer without a name, but as Alexander Shadowheart, first of his name, and now my brother in the shadows." he had made had had a hard time of training over the past three and a half year before he was ready to gain obtain his ultimate goal her reminisced as he stuck the black into a thin crack and used it to pull himself higher.

As he arrived at the top of the wall he peaked over the top of the wall and looked about to see if any guards were nearby. looking to his left, he saw a group off in the distance with their backs to him and to his right a group moving away from him about 50 meters away. He then proceeded to pull himself up and then quickly hop off the the top into the courtyard one the other side of the wall that was a good five feet below the other side into some brush.

After he saw the cost was clear Alex darted across the lawn into a open door into the castle that he had a connection through the Order insure would be left open so he could sneak in. After entering he found himself inside of the kitchen that lead into the western dining hall of the castle. When Kellinar had told him that there were two different hall for feasts he had simply laughed at the absurdity of needing two massive halls that were only rarely used.

As he passed through the kitchen he was careful not to tip over one of the hundreds of pots and pans that were spread out throughout the massive kitchen in preparation for the coming ceremony.

"One second thought maybe a second dining hall isn't such a crazy idea." the thought aloud at the site of the amount of food being prepared for the coming feast.

After navigating his way through the kitchen he made his way to the door that lead into the West hall and saw a guard leaving into the main corridor that would lead all the way into the eastern half of the castle itself.

After Alex was sure that the man had left he moved forward into the massive dining hall. Inside there were four long tables and one small one closest to the kitchen raised above the rest. The room itself had six large red and gold tapestries each with one of the five codes symbols imprinted upon it. The one that was hung behind the head table though was that of the Code of Star Light, which was had only been held by the six previous Stars of Ortainal.

After he had made his way to the end of the massive room he saw the there was a guard standing post next to the very stairwell that he needed to access. So in order to improvise he grabbed one of the crystal wine jars that was filled to the brim and throw it to the ground before he hid next to the door.

The guard immediately rushed into the room and before he even had a chance to look around Alex had taken out the small hammer that he had pick up from the kitchen on his way into the dining hall and proceeded to beat the guard over the helm with it with just enough force to knock the man out cold.

After that he put the hammer on a table and ran to the stairwell quickly climbed the stairs until he reached the fourth level of the the castle, which held most of the sleeping chambers of guest of Deriania. After a short walk he came to a door to the room reserved for guests of the highest honor and then proceeded to get to work on the lock which he found to be of clearly a low quality as it took him only a few seconds to hear the pins all drop giving him access to contents of the room.

As he entered he saw a tall man dressed in a white silk undershirt looking into the night sky, the man had black hair that blended with the very night sky that he gazed at. Alex closed the door silently and stepped quietly pulling his knife out and when he was behind the man slid it to the man's throat.

"Say a word and you die." Alex said he pressed the knife into the man neck to get the point across.

The man remained calm as he stayed still and looked back "You won't kill me," he said coolly "I am Sir Davis Bryor Knight of Termal and soon to be Warden of Isictal." he said.

Alex pressed his blade harder drawing a bit of blood, "I have waited for years to do this," Alex said his voice growing. He could now feel his heart racing and allow with his vision turning red from the hate at the site of the man he saw before him "I Alexander Shadowheart of the Order of Shadows, in the name of Jonathan Groundborne hereby take my revenge!" he was shouting now and was the man's eyes widen at the realization of who stood before him and what was undoubtedly about to occur.

* * *

The man Opened his mouth and began started the words for death knowing full well what that without someone to sacrifice he would lose his own life trying to take this Noname in front of him along with him to the void.

But all he got out was "Daus-" before he felt the cold steel dig into his neck and a felt immediately of lightheaded along with a wet warm feeling appear on his neck and hands as he instinctively attempted to stop the bleeding but also found that at the same time it appeared that he was drowning in his own blood. But that wasn't the worst part, he had been killed by the child of a demon, a Noname. He watched as his vision faded until he felt oddly warm as he simply lost the will to fight on and embarrass the feeling and slipped into nothing.

* * *

Alex stood looking down at the body as he put away his knife. Looking down he didn't know what to feel. This was the first life that he had taken, and for a moment he almost felt guilty… almost. He then remembered the look of emptiness in his uncle's eyes as this very man had sent him into oblivion because in an attempt to end his own life, no he would not allow himself to feel anything but hate for this man.

Turned now fully aware of his surroundings he heard what seemed like an army of footsteps running down the hall toward the room he was in room and could hear warning bells ringing throughout the castle he saw a multitude of men running toward to east wing where the Grand Keeper's chambers undoubtedly where. He figured that the body of the man he had knocked out was found, he felt careless in his thirst for revenge he had forgot to be careful of his surrounding. He could only now guess that the rest had come here to protect the now decided future Warden of Isictal. He had know that this might have been a one way trip, as much as he had promised Kellinar that he would get himself out.

As soon as the steps reached the door a young man dressed in a leather armor with a black undershirt came bursting in whom Alex immediately recognized as the young squire from all those years ago, he even had a scar on his forehead where he had been hit with a rock by Alex.

"Sir Davis!" The young man yelled out and looked at Alex with the very same eyes he had held just minutes ago.

Alex couldn't help but give a sad smile, here it was, the circle of hate started by the man at his feet would now come to an end. He felt that it was only right that this man kill him, it would save him the same pain that he had suffered through over the years thinking of only hunting down and killing Sir Davis.

"Servias Gutian Kuvas!" the young man shouted and a blast of fire leaped from his hands and raced forward to meet Alex.

Alex saw it coming and covered his face with his cloak and felt the impact of the fireball. He felt the force of air in his lungs rushing forth as he was forced out the open window as it fireball exploded.

"Lucky me" he thought "he missed me by a foot or so now I get to fall to my death." He had remembered the flight of stairs taking him very high for four floors however the castle had high ceilings on every level and he was a good eight stories in the air now a little less than eight as he fell.

As he fell he could see the ground rushing up to meet him, his cloak smoking around him the ground rushing to meet him. Time seemed to slow as he came to grips with what was about to occur as the ground was now only a few meters from him Alex closed his eyes as a flash of light overtook him "Death" he thought to himself.

* * *

Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière was having a bad week if she had ever had one. First she had blown a hole in the classroom trying to perform alchemy for Mrs. Chevreuses, and then after being let out of the Headmaster's Office she had to go and proclaim to Kirche that she would summon a familiar that would be unmatched by everyone else's familiars combined.

Now the day of the summoning she felt even worse after seeing Tabitha summon herself a Wind Dragon, and then Kirche had to to get a Fire Salamander. But to top it all off Kirche had ruined her hopes of remaining unnoticed by informing Mr. Colbert that she hadn't summoned a familiar yet.

Being last she was now surrounded by her classmates who had given her plenty of room in case she let off another of her infamous explosive failures. As she nervously thought of what to say she heard Kirche taunting her from the opposite side of the circle that surrounded her.

"You said that you can summon something greater than this boy, right Louise?" Kirche said smiling as she was knelt beside her her new familiar petting him slowly as it flicked its tail whose end held a bright flame back and forth.

Louise scoffed at Kiche "Naturally." she replied before tightening her grip on her wand before giving a silent prayer Brimir "I beg you." and then let out a deep breath.

"My slave, who lives somewhere in the universe!" she began only to get a confused reply from the circle of people around her before she continued "Oh sacred, beautiful and strong familiar spirit! I desire and here I plead from my heart! Answer to my guidance!" she said as she twirled her wand and then cast the summons.

Immediately there was an explosion, and those who closed to Louise found themselves thrown to the ground.

As the smoke cleared there was a boy with black hair and vibrant green eyes who look about the same age as most of the students. He was knelt on one knee clad in a all black including a black cloak that look as though it had been badly burned. He looked tired and weakly spoke in some language that no one could understand.

* * *

Alex soon realized that he was not in fact dead when he had landed in the middle of a completely different castle from the one he had broken into, and instead of night it was midday. looked up and saw a girl with vibrant pink hair and eyes looking down upon him and his first thought was that he had in fact died and was now on his way to be judged by Ortainal himself.

He then saw a girl with red hair say something to the pink haired girl who immediately became annoyed by whatever was said before snapping back. The girl then proceeded to speak to a man who had receding hair with a wooden staff that had red lines running through it. After the exchange she seemed to become deflated and then turned to him and was now obviously angry. He could now hear some giggling going on from the students in the crowd that now surrounded them while he tried to gain his bearings.

At this point Alex had decided that he was not dead and this was some sort of school judging by the uniformity of the clothes worn by the people around him, perhaps he had been transported to the land across the sea to on of the far Kingdoms? No that couldn't be it, he had never heard of a code that granted the power to summon someone even over a short distance let alone to the other side of the world. Just then the pink haired girl say something and proceed to point a stick at his head before kneeling down and slowly leaning in closer to him.

"W-what are you doing?" Alex asked right before the girl proceeded to kiss him. She then quickly stood and spit on the grass beside him and said something in her language.

"What the hell was that abou-" he started before he became aware of a sharp pain the formed in his left shoulder and hand that passed through his whole body. Instinctively he tore off the glove covering his left hand just in time to see markings from themselves on his hand. The pain in his hand however was faded out by the one that had now spread from his left shoulder to the left half of his chest. Alex tried to hold in the pain but it grew to become unbearable as he let out a blood curdling scream and then felt the mixture of pain and exhaustion wash over him as he fell to the ground uncertain of what would come next before a deep unconscious overtook him.

* * *

 **Chapter one is in the books, I swear next chapter will be 90% in Halkeginia.**

 **I plan to go into more depth on Alex's life after he fled old town throughout the story and talk about the Order of Shadows along with the impact of the 5 Codes that they have on the world he comes from.**

 **There is a large time skip and I really think you guys will love Kellinar when you get to know more about him, but that will come in time.**

 **Anyway feel free to leave a review, and I'll try and to get to answering any question, or addressing any suggestions on the story.**

 **Aaron out!**


	2. Chapter II: New Found Powers

**No reviews to respond to yet... (;_;)**

 **Oh well, Here is the second chapter. I will try to get a release scheduled down but for now it's out when it's done. Remember this is my first story so I might have a few typos and grammar errors.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **II. New Found Powers**_

 _It had been a few weeks since he had fled Old Town, and now Alex was wandering on foot. He was lucky that the knight hadn't pursued him passed the outskirts of the city._

 _He had already sold the horse along with all the items it carried for an absurdly low price in order to purchase some much needed food. It had already been three days since he had run out of what little food he had gotten out of the money. Alex dared not look for a job to earn any cash by running the risk of someone seeing that he was in fact a Noname._

 _And so it was that he found himself wondering around the small town of Bertainal at the witching hour hoping that he might stumble upon some discarded food in order to satisfy the hunger that plagued his belly. As he walked toward the town's local inn he spotted two drunken men stumble out into the street._

 _The man on the left was a merchant from Old Town who was in Bertainal visiting his cousin and had left from arrived just three days before. The man had just finished telling a story about Old Towns very own blacksmith who had been harboring a Noname. When he had left his house he had only time to spot the boy riding a white horse fleeing the city before one of the town drunks had been stricken by the death magic intended for the bastard child._

 _Now he was seeing the very same child before him, so he decided in his drunken state to try and beat the boy to death in the name of sport._

 _Alex had time only to see the first man reach out and grab his right arm before he was being forced to the dirt._

 _"Hey Saiba! This is the kid I told you about," the man said with a grin "What do you say we have some fun?" He asked as the man replied with a grin before they dragged Alex into the alleyway._

 _The first punch hit him in the gut knocking the his wind out forcing him to his knees gasping for air. Then he felt a sharp pain overtake his mind as one of the men's boots made contact with his face which caused him to crash into a puddle of mud._

 _Alex felt blood fill his mouth and then his mind when to his side as he felt a kick make contact with his ribs and could feel them cave under the intense force of the blow. Lying there his thought was that this was the end. He was going to die here, and no one alive would give a damn that he had even lived to begin with. Alex closed his eyes praying that it would end quickly._

 _He then heard the two men let out a half yell before they when quiet. Alex then opened his eyes and spotted a man dressed in all black with a cloak that had the hood draw standing over the newly deceased bodies of his two assailant._

 _The man knelt next to him and removed his hood to reveal the face of a man. He had slick silver hair and and a long white beard that complimented him quite well._

 _Alex looked up at him his shirt torn. blood covering his mouth and his vision blurry from his now swollen right eye._

 _Then the man knelt and Alex looked into the man's soft blue eyes "My name is Kellinar Shadowheart," he said as he held out his hand "And I'm going to help you Noname." He said._

 _Alex looked at his hand for a moment before he took it and was lifted to his feet._

* * *

Alex woke to find himself lying in a bed of hay. The first thing he noticed was the sharp aching in his temple before he became fully aware of his surroundings. He was sitting on the floor in on the far wall of what he assumed was someone's room. He noted that the woodwork in the room was very different from that from Castle Dertainia. in the back of the room there was a large queen sized bed surrounded by white drapes that were held closed by a gold colored rope. There was also a table with two chairs in the center of the room along with a dresser and a area that had a minor and various cosmetic items scattered across the surface, which undependable meant he the room belonged to a girl. Next to that was glass case that held various plates and other miscellaneous items.

After quickly assessing his situation Alex put pressure on his left arm as he tried to rise only to be greeted by a sharp pain. He recoiled at the feeling at first before he tested and found he could put some pressure on it before it pushed back.

He gave a slight sigh of relief "It's only sore." he thought aloud.

He then heard the voice of a girl which he quickly turned to to see that pink haired girl looking down at him. He quickly rose to his feet using his right hand to push himself up.

"Look I don't know who you are, but I'm guessing you're not not from Dermina seeing as how I'm not chained to a wall right now," or burned alive he thought. "But I can't stay here, I must return to my friends."

He looked up shocked to see that the girl had paid him no attention and was now undressing herself. "Look I really don't know you, and I'm flattered but-" he started before he was hit with the same clothing she had just shed.

Alex removed them from this face before looking up and seeing the girl was now in a nightgown giving what he could only assumed to be orders based on her tone of voice.

"I can't understand you!" answered now annoyed with the language barrier that he was dealing with, "Yeah definitely not remotely near near Dermina." he thought to himself as he tossed the clothes to the floor.

The girl was obviously annoyed and proceeded to lift her wand and the next think Alex saw as a bolt of light that caused a small blast that knocked him to the ground and filled the room with smoke.

* * *

Man was this commoner annoying. It had taken Louise a while to convince Guiche to levitate the boy up to her room, which only furthered the point that she appeared to be incompetent when it came to magic after she had summoned a lowly commoner to be her familiar. So when the commoner had finally woken up she was in no mood to hear his he odd tongue.

On top of that he was even too thickheaded to understand simple orders, a familiar should be able to do their master's bidding even if they couldn't understand what was being said to them. In the end she had just hoped to shut up the boy, but even her spell of silencing seemed to only produce more explosions.

After the boy go to his feet he proceeded to raise his voice to her, but instead of gibberish she heard him speak her own language "What the hell was that!" the boy demanded.

"Hold on I can understand that." Louise replied as the boy stood and gave her an odd look. "I can't even get a damn spell of silence right!" she complained.

"What? How did you break the language barrier?" he asked and then he smelt something burning. Alex turned and saw that his cloak which had already been half destroyed was now on fire from the blast that Louise had unleashed upon him.

Quickly he took it off and stamped on it until the fire was all but smothered. "That's just great, Kerrinar is going to kill me." He said as he let out a sigh.

Louise raised her eyebrow before she decided to ignore the commoners ramblings, "What is your name commoner?" She inquired

The boy looked at her for a moment seeming to be deciding whether to give up his identity or not before he answered "I am Alexander Shadowheart."

* * *

Alex decided that this wasn't a place he planned to stay in long, he would make his excuses and leave at the first possible moment. The last thing he needed was for them to find out that he was a Noname.

Then it hit him, he saw that the girl in front of him had no code whatsoever, she was like him! But that couldn't be true, she had clearly demonstrated the use of magic, albeit a kind he had never seen before, but magic nonetheless.

As he started to question her lack of a mark she interrupted him "Silence familiar, you were summoned by me and therefore you are bound to my will, and will thus do my bidding." the girl announced.

Immediately he didn't like the idea of being a slave which is what he could only assume she was implying. "Listen I am no one's familiar, I'm my own person." Alex stated the and the girl became obviously enraged at this.

"I Louise Françoise le Blanc de-" she started but she had closed her eyes as she spoke and Alex figured this was as good a time as any to make his exit.

As he slipped into the hall he found a spiral staircase at the end of the hall and followed it to until he reached the ground floor.

Once Alex entered the hall he spotted a boy with curly blond hair speaking to a girl younger girl with light brown hair.

"I'm good at making soufflé." she told him.

"I'd love to have a taste of that." He replied as he moved his arm around her shoulder.

"Really?" The girl said with a great deal of enthusiasm .

"Of course, Katie." the boy replied

Alex walked forward ignoring the two as he headed for what he assumed to be the way to an exit. But before he could even get more than a few paces away from the two students the boy with blond hair spotted him.

"You there, commoner." He said in a now assertive tone as he spoke to Alex who simply glanced over his shoulder to acknowledge the blond haired boy.

"Hum?" he replied.

"As a commoner who caused so much trouble this morning, shouldn't you be saying thanks for being allowed to be in the very presence of nobility?" The boy said staring coldly at Alex.

Alex gritted his teeth and forced out "Thanks," before turning and leaving through the door before adding "Jackass." under his breath.

After making his way into the next room he saw a large room that had a fountain in the center which had two more students sitting side by side. Alex was able to recognize the girl with red hair as the person who Louise had been arguing with upon his arrival, and the boy he hadn't seen before.

He then saw the exit and immediately ran forward until he burst into the night air. After a few steps he looked up and saw instantly that things were wrong, very wrong. In the place of what should have held a brilliant white moon instead had light pink moon along with a massive blue one that dwarfed the other in mass.

While Alex stood trying to get a grip on what he was seeing he suddenly became aware of a feeling of weightlessness. Before he was swept off his feet. "Dammit how many times is my impatience going to put me into a bind like this!" he thought to himself before he reached for his small pack that was strapped to his side in which he held his throwing knives before he was thrashed back and forth by the caster of the magic.

"This is the second time I've had to levitated you today, so take this as your punishment." the blond haired kid said before Alex became aware of gravity taking effect again before as he came crashing back to the earth hard. As he hit the ground Alex felt all the air rush out of his lungs and began desperately trying to regain the air that he was now lacking.

* * *

After the boy had regained his wind he was no longer in the mood to protest when Guiche and Louise both moved the boy back into her room. He was now clutching his left shoulder when he was sitting in the corner of the room with his eyes closed apparently now deep in sleep.

Louise started looking through her cabinet of something that she could use to ensure that her familiar would attempt another escape. In the end she found a collar with a long chain and a padlock that she assumed would do the trick. The collar was leftover from her first year when she was looking after one of her sister's pet dogs Benedick.

As soon after she had changed into her nightgown the commoner had fallen into a deep sleep. She decided to take advantage of this fact and quickly fastened the chain to her far bedpost before she locked the collar around the boy's neck and locked it.

Louise was pleasantly surprised that the boy hadn't waken up while she did this (she really didn't want to hear anymore complaining out of a commoner). Louise then took a good look at her handy work before she when to sleep satisfied that he would not in fact be able to flee again.

* * *

When Alex had finally woken up it was early morning and he found that he was in a even more sore state that the last time he had woken in Louise's room. But the worst of it was the fact that he had woken with a collar wrapped firmly around his neck.

Kellinar had always told him that he could sleep with the very Battle of Corvans raging outside his room and still sleep through the whole night. A trait that wasn't exactly serving him well right now, as he noted that he was now chained to the post of Louise's bed. Looking around he found that the pink haired girl was nowhere to be found.

Alex had decided that for now there was no point in him fleeing the school, he didn't know anything about the world that he now found himself in. For the second time in two days he found that while he was sore all over by far his arm had gotten the worst of it. As he pushed himself up Alex walked over to the desk that held the cosmetic items including a brush that was decorated with intricate gold patterns, however he was only interested in the hairpins that lay scattered across the table.

Grabbing the one nearest to him he got to work on the poorly made lock, he would have had the damn thing open by now if his pack hadn't have been moved to the other side of the room out of his reach. Inside he would have found the proper tools for the job but instead he was working with flimsy hairpins. After breaking the first three that he tried he finally was able to unlock the collar with the fourth.

Rubbing his neck to remove the itchy feeling he was left with from the course inside of the collar Alex removed his black leather armor and undershirt to inspect his left his supersize he saw that there was now a dark black mark that was present across his left shoulder that had long arching lines spreading down his left bicep and chest. The lines met at a circle that had formed at the top of his arm, which had 7 stars aligned around the edge and a strange mark that he had never seen only a few times before.

He saw that he was bearing what was undoubtedly the Code of Star Light… but that couldn't be right. He had been born as a Noname, he had never before had this marking on his arm. At the shock of his discovery he thought hard and decided to try and summon the power of one of the codes, if he was the Keeper of Star Light he should be able to use any of the five codes at his will.

Alex put forward his right and and concentrated trying to feel for power that he had not sensed before and tried to speak the same words of power that the squire had used to try and claim his very life with.

"Servias Gutian Kuvas!" he shouted and braced himself for a impact, but nothing came. Letting out an audible sigh Alex put back on his shirt and armor and fastened his pack to his hip. After noting that his combat knife was no where to be found he picked up his finger-less gloves which had been sitting on the table in the middle of the room. That's when Alex first noticed the symbol on his left hand. After much as he pondered as to its origin he couldn't think of where it would have come from, after all the legends of the precious Stars of Ortainal hadn't had a symbol carved into their hands.

* * *

Jean Colbert knew he had seen the strange marking that appeared on this students familiar before somewhere and now he had found out where.

He had been looking for most of the previous night until he finally found what he was looking for, "Gandálfr," he said aloud "The Left Hand of God." as he read the text before him.

He sighed as he walked into Headmaster Osmond's office to bring him this critical piece of information.

After giving his findings to his superior now sat thinking as he petted his familiar Chuchu with one finger. The Small mouse had become notorious amongst the female population of the school for feeding the old perverts wishes. Though he wasn't seen as always as serious man he was still a Square mage of air.

Osmond set his familiar on his desk and then proceed to light up his pipe before taking a casual puff before he responded. "For now we will wait and observe the behavior of Gandálfr before we inform Lady Marianne of what we have discovered." the old man then gave a whisper to Chuchu before the mouse scurried off of the desk and into an disappeared into an opening in the wall. "That will be all for now professor." He announced as he returned to writing reports for Royal Palace that he had put off for far too long.

Mr. Colbert gave a respectful bow and left the Headmaster's office and headed to meet his next class.

* * *

Alex strode across courtyard of the lawn noting the old creatures that were each accompanied by a master of their own. As he walked absent mindedly forward he came into contact with what looked like a lizard that had a flame coming from the back of its tail. The second he made contact with the creature it made a quick snap at his feet that Alex was only barely able to dodge.

"Flame likes you I think," teased the red haired girl who was knelt beside him.

"Sorry about th-" he began as he backed into a girl who had been serving food to the students knocking the plate that she held out of her hand.

He saw the girl that was dressed in a maids outfit, she had short black hair and light blue eyes. "Sorry about that," he said picking up the desert and placing it back on the place from which it was knocked off.

"Don't worry about it." she said shyly before giving him a smile and walking off.

Alex then spotted Louise who was looking about and moving in his direction obviously in a poor mood. Alex scoffed at the idea of such a whiny spoiled brat yelling at him again. So he turned and walked further into the group of people until he spotted the boy that had slammed him to the ground the previous night flirting with a girl with curly blond hair.

Alex decided that he wanted to gain a little payback for the previous night's events. As he approached the two.

"Your familiar really resembles you in how cute it is." the boy said to the girl

"Faltering as always Guiche," she said "however I heard a rumor that you've started dating a first year student." she accused him.

"Nonsense, I've never hear more vicious lies in my life," Guiche replied with a smile to the girl.

Alex leaned up against a tree that was only a few paces away from the couple "Really? I swear I heard you say you wanted to enjoy some of that girl Katie's soufflé today?" Alex said as he glanced over to where Guiche and the girls had were sitting.

"W-What are you on about?" Guiche said nervously as he looked from the girl to Alex.

Alex leaned forward and took a few steps in the direction of the two students "I'm also going to guess that the difference in cloaks indicates that that girl Katie was also a first year." Alex when on.

"What is he talking about?" The girl said obviously growing angry with Guiche.

Guiche quickly rose and barked at Alex "Leave us pageboy!" before retaking his seat.

"Not a pageboy," Alex said as he walked away. As he turned he saw the girl named Katie was looking about, he saw her and smiled "If you're looking for Guiche he's over there" he pointed out as he saw the blood drain from Guiche's face.

"M-montmorency, let's g-" he started but before he had a chance to say anything else the Katie had already made her way over.

The girl smiled at Guiche "I've been looking for you everywhere, Guiche." She lifted up a bag, "I have the soufflé that we talked about last night!"

"Ah… Well you see…" he said laughing nervously.

"Last night?" Montmorency said now getting a little red in the face.

"Hold on now..." He started as he took a step back before Alex interjected again.

"What's wrong going did I mess up your love triangle or something?" Alex mocked the blond brat.

"Y-you, you're giving these two fine ladies the wrong idea here!" he yelled.

People began to take notice of the commotion and were starting to form a circle, and that included Louise who was now sprinting over to try and stop her familiar from doing something stupid.

"For telling them that they are dating a unloyal man… at the same time no less?" Alex was grinning now at the dismay of the boy.

And that's all it took for the two ladies to jump at him, "Unloyal!" said the dark haired girl, "So it was true that you're messing around with a first year!" stated the blond.

"Montmorency, please don't distort your rose like face with anger." he said trying to backpedal now. "It's all just a misunderstanding."

But then Katie jumped in "You're horrible! You said I'm the only one!" she was starting to tear up now before she gained a look of anger on her face as well.

"C-calm down you tw-" he started before being interrupted.

"You liar!" they both yelled together before Montmorency gave him a hard slap to the face forcing him to the ground. At this site the whole crowd burst into laughter.

Guiche then became enraged standing up and pointing at Alex, "You don't know your place commoner!" Alex frowned at the tone of the boy "As a result, I Guiche de Gramont challenge you to a duel!" the blond haired boy was now grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of beating this commoner who had embarrassed him to a pulp.

Alex crossed his hands and thought for a moment before he responded "I accept," he said as he looked his opponent in the eyes "where and when will this dual be held?" Alex inquired.

The boy smirked "Vestry Field, five minutes from now." he said and stormed away.

There was a mass exodus of people making their way to Vesty Field, and then Alex spotted the pink haired girl Louise running toward him.

"What do you think you doing?!" she shouted at him before grabbing his arm and dragging him away "You're going to beg for forgiveness before you get yourself killed! What are you thinking challenging a noble to a duel?!"

Alex then ripped his hand away "I didn't know you cared so much," he teased.

"I don't, but if my familiar is kill it will shame my family." she stated as she put her hands on her hips.

Alex looked her in the eyes and then turned to one of the students "Were is Vesty Field?" The boy pointed to a area across the way. As he started to move Louise grabbed his shirt before he yanked himself free of her grip, "You can't stop me." he said as he ran off.

As Alex entered the yard he saw that a great multitude of people had gathered to see the dual. Most people in the crowd had already decided that what would occur would be a bloodbath in favor of Guiche, who at this point was just attempting to save face after being dumped.

"I'm surprised you showed up," Guiche mocked as Alex stood across from him. "You're either extremely brave or stupid I can't decide which."

Alex reached into his pouch and reached for his throwing knives "What are the rules of engagement?" Alex asked not taking his eyes off his opponent for a moment.

The Guiche smirked "We will fight until one of use yields or is no longer able to continue."

Just then Louise burst into the clearing that had been made for the fight, "Wait!" she yelled out as she marked over to Guiche. "That's enough, Guiche! You know duels are forbidden!" She scolded him in an attempt to stop the fight before it could begin.

Guiche stuck his nose at her comment "Only between two nobility, I have every right to duel a commoner." he said dismissively.

"Well nothing like this has ever happened before!" she argued now looking visibly concerned.

"Could it be that you're attracted to this commoner, Louise?" Guiche tease.

"I am not! Now knock it off!" she yelled, "Besides, no one would just standby and watch their familiar get beaten to a pulp!"

"Well regardless the duel has already been initiated, there is no going back for your poor familiar anymore!" he said with a wicked grin as Guiche swung his rose allowing a pedal to fall to the earth. The instant it hit the ground there was a brilliant light from which a Brass Valkyrie appeared from. "I am called Guiche the Brass. Therefore, I will defeat you with the help of my Brass Valkyries."

Alex cursed under his breath as the Valkyrie charged forward. Alex rolled to his left and pulled his knives out and instantly felt a rush of strength that he had never before experienced. Before he had a chance to think about his plan of attack he was already moving as though battle had become his second nature. The Valkyrie took a swing at him before he jumped to the side easily avoiding the blow before he launched the first of this five knives. Even Alex was shocked at the speed at which the knife flew, the speed and power were so great that the knife caused the head of the Valkyrie to explode on contact before the knife landed in the ground penetrating another foot into the soil before it came to a stop.

Guiche looked shell shocked for a moment before he regained his senses and summoned up five more Valkyries and sent them forward, now the challenge had really started. Alex had time to throw two more knives before the first Valkyrie got into range with its spear. Alex was able to dodge the first two swings before the second and third brass golems arrived to push the assault. Alex dived to the left and let loose his last two knives into the Valkyries closest to him.

The first thing Alex noticed when he let the last knife go was the sudden drop in speed that he took. He was confident in his ability however to take out the last Valkyrie on his own. Before he saw three more flashes of light to his right. In the time it took him to look to his right the first of the newly formed Valkyries had already made contact with the side of this temple sending him flying.

Alex shook his head and saw the world spinning as he stumbled trying to get to his feet before falling back to the earth. After a moment he felt dizzy and knew that he had to move unless he wanted to take another hit like that. After another shake of his head his vision came back into view and he became aware of the blunt end of a spear making racing toward his chest. Alex attempted to jump back before he felt the cold brass hit his chest and he swore he hear the audible cracking of ribs.

Alex flew back and was now somehow managed to rise to his feet now running purely off of adrenaline. He then became aware of the pink haired girl at his side, "You did well, better than most. But if you don't yelled now you could get yourself killed!" Louise shouted obvious concerned for the state of her familiar.

Alex was aware of how much it hurt to breath but he forced his words out "The day I yelled to someone who sees me as their lesser based solely on my birth will ever come, I would rather die than allow that!" he shouted before he charged into the fight once more.

Alex jumped to the side as one the first attack came only to be hit hard in the back by another Valkyrie. As he looked to the ground coughed and saw a puddle of his own blood forming on the ground.

Alex rose once more "Do you yelled, commoner?" Guiche asked as he held his rose up holding his army of Valkyries back for the moment.

Gritting his teeth he closed his eyes and forced the word to rise through his now broken body "Never."

After a moment he prepared for another assault but then he felt something, a power that flowed through him, this was even greater than what he had felt when he had been wielding his throwing knives. Opening his eyes as he was instantly surrounded by a thick golden light before he raising his right hand and then shouted out "Servias Gutian Kuvas!". In an instant a stream of fire leapt from his hand so powerful the Valkyries seemed to turn to dust the second it touched them. The fire stopped just short of Guiche, but the force behind it still thrown him and the students who had been standing behind him the to the ground.

Guiche quivered in fear as he saw Louise's familiar obliterate his perecuious Valkyries. Right before he willed the Brass Golems to put an end to the fight, a golden light had enveloped the boy and his hair turned silver, and the irises of his eyes became pure golden. Now the boy was walking slowly toward him and he had already spent all his energy on the last set of Valkyries "I yield! I yield!" he shouted as he shielded himself with his hands before the boy stopped a few feet away. "So you were just a coward in the end…" The boy said before he turned to walk away as the golden light faded and his hair returned to it's original jet black before he fell forward.

As Alex stepped away from Guiche he suddenly felt all the power that he had just experienced faded in an instant before he fell forward in pain. The Adrenalin that had been keeping him together had all but faded now and the last thing he saw before he fell into blackness was Louise and the Maid who he had bumped into earlier that day running toward him.

* * *

 **Another one in the books, I decided to make Guiche more of a jerk so that he will have to work to change who over the course of the story.**

 **I hope that I get some input soon I know I'm flying through chapters right now because I have a ton of free time on my hands. Let me know how you like the story so far, I'd love to get your input!**

 **Aaron out!**


	3. Chapter III: A New Path

**Time to reply to reviews!**

 **...Oh...There aren't any yet. Oh Well on to the chapter then!**

* * *

 _ **III. A New Path**_

 _They had been walking for a good three days now. It had been a few days since Kellinar had decided that Alex's wounds had healed enough that he was fit for travel, however Alex found that his body was still in protest to that idea._

 _Alex still felt odd traveling with the old man, still he knew he was a Noname and wasn't currently trying to gut him so that was at least a good sign._

 _After a few more hours of walking the sun was starting to get low in the sky and the old man raised his hand to motion for them to stop._

 _"We will camp here for the night." He said as he lowered his pack next to base of a large oak tree._

 _Alex dropped his pack and allowed his tired body to fall to ground as well letting out a sigh of relief at the prospect of giving his body a rest. Looking Alex saw that the man had already gone to collect wood for a fire._

 _After a short while Alex did his best to make himself comfortable while he and the man sat around a large fire enjoying some of the rabbit that Kellinar had killed with a throwing knife on the trail earlier that day. He had been shocked at the speed that the weapons moved, the animal hadn't even had the time to flinch before it had been struck twice._

 _As Alex finished his food he saw Kellinar spread out his bedroll. "Why me?" Alex asked as he stared into the fire._

 _Kellinar looked up for a moment before he began to mess with some of the straps on his bag "Why not you?" He replied._

 _"I mean, I nobody. Why waste your time trying to save me?" Alex said as he looked at his feet._

 _"Yes, you're a Noname." Alex felt a pit open at in his stomach at the term "But that doesn't mean you have to be nobody." the man said as he picked up another log and added it to the fire._

 _"But I was abandoned by Ortainal at birth-" Alex stared._

 _"I have read the holy texts of God, and he never said anything about abandoning the Nonames." Kellinar snapped before he let out a sigh. He then stood up and put his hands on the boy's shoulders "People hate the things that they can't explain, it's better than trying answer the questions that those things pose." He said as he ruffled his hair. "Try and get some sleep, we still have a long road ahead of us."_

* * *

As Alex opened his eyes he became aware of a feeling of stiffness that dominated his whole body. Looking around his found himself in a large comfy bed with bandages covering most of his chest and parts of his head.

Looking to his right Alex saw Louise sitting at the her vanity desk. She had her head buried in her arms as she quietly slept. Alex smiled as he looked over her. "She's not so bad when she's not yelling at anyone." He thought.

Just then the door to the room opened and in came the servant in the maid outfit who he had bumped into the other day in the courtyard. He then saw that she was carrying a tray that had a pitcher of water and a loaf of bread along with a glass and some silverware with her.

"I see you're finally awake." She said with a smile before she set the tray on the table.

"Yeah," Alex sitting up he let out a groan "I feel like I got hit by a mountain."

"You were in a pretty rough state after your duel with that noble boy, the healer said that if he had gotten to you any later you wouldn't have made it." she looked down "You gave everyone a good scare in that first night. If it hadn't been for Miss. Vallière getting that expensive medicine to you probably wouldn't have made it."

"This girl I barely know did that…" Alex thought as he looked over at her.

* * *

Alex got out of bed and stood stretching his arms trying to get out the stiff feeling that being bedridden had left him with. He quickly put back on his black shirt and then strapped back on his leather armor. The servant who he had learned was named Siesta had been kind enough to wash and return it to him after he had awoken.

Lousie was still sleeping when he was fully dressed, he wasn't surprised, Siesta had informed him that she had spent the past three nights watching over him without much rest at all. Alex reached down and picked her up, finding her surprisingly light he set her over on her bed.

As he strapped his pack to his hip he glanced up in the minor before quickly taking another look. Alex reached up and touched his hair feeling the thin strip that had turned a bright silver. As he held it seemed to glow as he held it.

"Could this have been a side effect of the power that I used at the end of my fight with Guiche?" he thought. However, before he could finish his thought he turned and saw a glimmer in the corner of his eye.

Cursing under his breath he pulled out his lockpick and started to work on the glass display case. After a few seconds he was again holding his combat knife that had been hidden under a set of napkins, and he had only noticed it because the end of the knife had barely been poking out from the pile of cloth.

"I really could have used you against that prick." He said holding the knife. He had noticed that just seconds after picking it up he had again felt the same rush of strength that he had had when he was wielding his throwing knives. On top of that when he held it he could see the mark on his hand hand begin to glow, something he hadn't see when he had his gloves on.

Alex took the knife and slid it into its sheath that was strapped behind him. Alex grabbed his gloves deciding that it was probably wise to hid the mark as much as possible.

Opening the door Alex looked back and gave a quick look at Louise. She looked so peaceful, he gave a smile as he turned and left the room "We will meet again, but I need to find out more about this world first." he said before making his way down out.

* * *

Guiche was sitting in his room thinking on what had happened just three short days before. "The day I yelled to someone who sees me as their lesser based solely on my birth will ever come, I would rather die than allow that!"

The words of the commoner kept ringing in his head, well that wasn't quite right, the boy had shown the ability to wield magic. He was bothered by a great many things, he had bast a spell without a wand, and the magic was well beyond anything he had ever seen, even Kirche who was a Triangle mage of fire couldn't cast fire magic that strong. So how had this boy accomplished such a feat?

It was eating away at him. But the thing that bothered him most of all was how his hair and eyes had changed when that golden light had enveloped him.

Guchie sighed. As he looked out his window into the night sky as he continued to brood over what had occurred before he decided that he required a breath of fresh air before rising and making his way toward the courtyard.

* * *

Alex had originally planned to sneak into the kitchen at first in order to get the rations that he would need for his trip, however now he found that he was hailed as a champion by the servants who worked in the kitchen.

When he was making his way toward the back entrance to the kitchen a large man who he assumed to be the head chief from his choice of head wear, had thrown both hands to the sky and gave out a great shout. "Ah, there he is at last! Our Fist!"

The man had then hurried him inside before insisting that he and the rest of the staff honor him with a hot meal, and Alex had to admit that it was by far the best thing he had ever had, though he had never really had anything to brag about in his time with training with the Order.

"Marteau that was amazing!" Alex said after he had finished his second plate full of food, there truly was nothing like nearly dying followed by three days of sleep to make a person hungry.

"It's the least we could do for you after you cut those snotty nobles down to size!" Marteau said as he gave Alex a hard pat on the back. Alex winced as he hadn't yet had a chance to fully recover from the wounds of his fight.

"Thanks," he winced out as he stretched his back trying to get the dull pain that had been awaken to subside. After he had finally got the feeling in check he pushed stood up and pushed his chain in. "I appreciated the meal."

"No problem! Say if you need anything don't be afraid to ask fist!" He smiled as he gave a thumbs up.

"Actually there is one thing that I could have help with, I need some food for the road, I'll be taking a trip." Alex said as he lend against the table.

"You're leaving?" said Siesta who hadn't spoken until now.

Alex nodded "I need to learn more about this world, it's well… different form where I come from." Alex had a dark look grow over his eyes as he thought back to his own homeland. "I need to see it first hand." He said.

Marteau put his hand to his chin "Okay, I can't spare much though, I mean leftovers is one thing, but a load of fresh food is another."

"Wait… those were just leftovers!?" Alex interjected before shaking his head, "Sorry go on."

Marteau chuckled "But I guess I can make an exception for you my friend." the chief said before he when into the back and started to fill a what looked like a travel bag with a few loaves of bread and some fruit along with a large water skin.

While Marteau was putting together the bag Siesta walked over to Alex "But you'll be back right?" she asked in a concerned.

"Yeah, I will." He said as he watched Marteau put the last few items in the bag.

"Promise?" she asked holding both of her hands close to her chest.

Alex looked her in the eyes and gave her a warm smile "It's a promise."

Marteau returned and handed over the sack which was heavy but was nothing Alex wasn't used to. "There should be a good two weeks of food there, maybe three if you ration it well." he said with a smile, "do us proud fist!"

Alex thanked the staff once more before heading out the door before turning and giving Siesta one more smile before he slipped out the door into the night air.

It had been a short walk to the gate and he was now standing just inside before he let out a deep breath, but as he started to take his first breath he heard a familiar voice "Leaving?" Turning he saw Guiche step forward from the front wall and take a step into the moonlight.

Alex narrowed his eyes before reaching behind himself and resting his right hand on his combat knife instantly feeling the rush of strength that it brought him. "Yeah." he replied as he watched Guiche waiting for someone to make a move.

"Relax I'm not here for another fight." but Alex didn't seem to lower his guard for a moment at the remark. "I saw you heading for the gate and wanted to ask you something."

Alex removed his hand from his weapon but still stayed alert incase Guiche was planning something "Then ask."

"What did you mean when you said you would have rather died than yield to someone who saw you as lesser based on your birth, because I can tell it has more than being a commoner to it." He asked narrowing his eyes.

Alex stared at Guiche for a moment before replying "Where I come from I was seen as less than a human, let's just leave it at that." he said coldly.

Guiche nodded before he started back for the dorms. "Hey," Alex called to him.

"Hm?" Guiche said as he turned his body back to Alex.

"When you see Louise, tell her I said that I will return and pay her back." Alex said

Guiche gave a quick smile "That I can do," He said before continuing back.

Alex watched him for a few seconds before he turned and took the first steps forward into a world that was completely foreign to him.

* * *

 **I know it's short but I like to stick with a topic per chapter, this one just happened to go by quickly.**

 **Chapters without fighting in them will tend to be shorter due to their simplicity.**

 **Well Still no reviews, but hey I'm having having fun regardless!**

 **That's all for now. Aaron out!**


	4. Chapter IV: Danger on the Road

**Captains Log: Day Two... I've been able to avoid answering any review on my story, though I am pleased to say that we have plundered three Favorites. End log.**

 **Haha, Well I can't stop can I... Well here is chapter three, I will try to put out at least 3K words per chapter, and I might get out multiple chapters at a time, like today for example.**

 **Anyway enough from me, enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **VI. Danger on the Road**_

Alex had been traveling for quite some now time, it was now midday and he had yet to take a rest since he had left the Academy. The countryside was nice but nothing that took his breath away.

Walking over a path Alex had decided to head to the capital city of Tristania, which he assumed would be a good place to start trying to found out more about the nation that he now resided in. Walking he spotted a fork in the road that he had seen on the map that Marteau had packed for him.

Alex swung the bag from over his shoulder and grabbed a chunk of bread before he pulled out the map and tied the bag shut again as he threw it back over his shoulders. "So after I take a left I should only have about another day or two of walking before I reach the city." Alex sighed as he had really wished he had taken a horse but had decided that stealing a horse probably wasn't the way to gain anymore favor with the nobles who he assumed he had probably already pissed off in his short time at the Academy.

Looking at the map Alex spotted a small dot on the map that marked a small town that was only a short while off the road a little farther ahead. "That looks like it might be a good place to find a bed for the night." Alex said with a smile. He had never felt so free, as a Noname he would have never attempted to find refuge in a inn for fear of being noticed, but here there was no such thing as a Noname here, only nobles and commoners, which existed in both his and this world.

Folding the map he placed it into one of the side pockets before he took a left at the fork.

* * *

Louise woke to find the sunlight was hitting her face. Instead of sitting at her Vanity Stand she found that she was now lying in her own bed. Rising she let out a loud yawn stretching her arms in the air before rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Looking around Louise saw that her familiar Alex was nowhere to be found.

Louise started to get red in the face at the realization that her familiar had failed to do any of the chores that had piled up while he had been recovering.

"T-that stupid dog! he goes and gets himself beat to hell and when he wakes up he can't even do some basic laundry!" She said as she let out a long sigh. "When I get my hands on him!" she said shaking her fist.

After Louise had changed into a pair of clean cloths and finished brushing her hair to satisfaction she turned and left the room. As she entered the hall she spotted Kirche stepping out of her room. "Good morning Louise," She smiled "Where is that handsome commoner of yours at?" She asked looking into Louise's room.

"I haven't seen him." she said turning her nose up "Besides what could you possibly want with my familiar." Louise said as he rose her eyebrow.

Kirche simply giggled "Oh nothing you have to worry yourself with." and with that turned and walked away.

After a hour of searching the grounds she had already missed Professor Chevreuses class looking for her familiar. "Where the hell is that stupid dog run off to!" She yelling out in anger. Letting out a tired sighing Louise bent over rested her hands on her knees.

"Something the matter?" Looking up she saw the servant girl who had brought her food while she had been looking over Alex, she remembered that her name was Siesta.

"Yes, I can't find my familiar around anywhere. Have you seen him?" She asked.

The girl seem to recoil a bit "You mean he hadn't told you? He left the academy last night." she replied.

"Left…" Louise questioned. "B-but a familiar has never left their master before." she said as she felt a feeling of hopelessness wash over her as she sat on the ground beating her head into her knees. "I really am just Louise the Zero." she said before she began to cry.

* * *

As the sun had started to set Alex had just arrived into the small town that his map marked as Yitinpass. The town was a good hours walk from the main road, but Alex just wanted to find a bed for the night, though he wondered how he should go about gaining the currency to pay for a room in the town's inn… if they even had one.

From the distance it didn't look like much and as he noted that I looked even worse up close. The town had three small buildings that looked probably couldn't even fit Louise's room inside them. If they had ever had any paint it had all but been weathered away by years of neglect. The windows were dusty and showed little of the dark interior of the buildings. Further in there was a long building that had a sign that was held up by a single chain with the other dangling beside it, the words were far too faded to make out, but it didn't really matter, Alex couldn't have read the sign even if it was in a proper state. Looking inside he saw that the inn was locked and appeared to be abandoned as well.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Alex asked to no one continuing down the path that led into the center of town.

The path soon took him into a clearing made by four buildings placed in a circle which was empty except for a well that was in the center of the clearing. Strait ahead of him was what looked like a church. The building was in the best state of anything he had seen thus far. It was painted a plain white and had two large oak doors that held interact woodworking was appealing to the eye.

To the left of was by far the largest of any of the homes he had seen thus far. There were two level and a balcony that covered the doorway. It was also painted plain white and was on of the few buildings that looked like it was being well kept. The one thing that Alex took note of was the fact the the front door had been forced open, there was splintered wood all around the entrance and the door itself was set up against the wall of the house. The other two buildings to either side of him were identical shops. they both looked abandon of people, but various good were still displayed in the windows.

Alex felt uncomfortable, he known that something was wrong for a while but any doubt he had had was now gone. Dropping his bag to the ground Alex reached around he wrapped his right hand around the handle of his combat knife and felt a little better at the sudden rush of strength that the rune on his hand brought him. Just as he took another set forward he felt the hair on his neck stand on and instinctively jumped back.

The instant his feet touch the ground again a arrow slammed into the ground a foot from where he had been standing. looking up he saw the man who had fired the shot. He had long dark hair that hung over his face obscuring his eyes from view. He was dressed in patchy clothing that had long ago lost any color it may have had that was replaced by a dark brown formed from dirt and sweat. On top of his pants and shirt the man had on brown leather armor that was badly scratched and seemed a bit too big for the man with his small stature. Overall Alex was convinced that if he stood next to the man he would have gagged from the the smell that undoubtedly plagued the him.

"That was a warning shot!" The man yelled, though his voice seemed to command little authority to it. "Come any closer and the next one will go between your eyes!" He warned.

Alex slowly dragged his knife from the sheath but kept it behind him as he watch the man.

After a moment the man put his hand to his mouth and let out a whistle. In an instant Alex four men exit from the two shops, two from his left and two on his right before they encircled him. Alex drew out his knife which gave the men a good laugh.

Alex saw that each man was brandishing a either a sword or axe, all of which had seen better days. each men wore the same uniform as the archerd in the church tower.

"Are you from the capital?" The man in the tower yelled down, Alex simply stared at the man "Do you have the ransom money or not?"

Alex looked from left to right before looking back to the man who he assumed was the leader of these thugs. "I'm not from the capital, and I carry no money." The man scoffed "However," Alex rose his voice and "If you do not let whoever it is that you're holding free you will not walk away with your lives." Alex said observing that men that surrounded him.

The man chucked and then replied, "Erin, John, Thomas, Brian… have a little fun with our hero here."

An instant later a scream that could have been heard for mile rung out. Alex had moved so fast that the men would have sworn that the boy had vanished before they saw their friend yell out before his throat had been ripped open by the kids combat knife. The other three took a step back before grabbing their weapons tight and charging forward.

Alex side stepped before he heard the arrow and simply reached out and plucked the arrow right out of the sky. Looking at it for a second he almost scared himself with the movement before his instincts took back control. The first and took a heavy swing in and attempt to remove Alex's head only to miss and have his momentum carry him to the right of his opponent only for Alex to use the opening to slam the arrow right though the man's neck before lifting his knife and blocking the axe of the second thug. lex Alex then pulled hard removing the arrow from the man's neck causing him to fall to the floor and begin to drawn in the blood that was now filling his throat.

Reaching up Alex grabbed the shaft of the axe and tossed the man ahead of him to his left side right as a second arrow had been released which instead of hitting his shoulded found its way into the man's back causing him to yell out before falling to his knees. Alex immediately then turned and grabbed the fourth man's arm mid-swing before launching his knife into the man's chin as he struggled before turning and using him as a human shield against a third arrow before removing a small knife in the thugs belt right before dropping him to the ground. Looking in the watch tower he saw the man fumbling with another arrow, his hands were shaking like crazy now as he finally got the arrow knocked he looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of a knife that a half second later was lodged in his heart.

Alex was still running high on adrenaline as he looked about scanning for any further threat that might come before he felt something lightly grab his foot. Quickly looking down he saw the thug that had been struck in the back by his friend. His face was white and he coughed up a great deal of blood before he tried to speak but was only able to make a soft rasp before he went still.

Alex kicked the man's hand off his boot before he walk forward and pulled the the great wooden doors open. Instantly he saw what looked like a wooden chair leg fly for his face before he grabbed it and used the momentum of the person wielding it to pin them to the door before placing his knife still dripping fresh with blood the the person's neck before he heard the cry of an older sounding man "Wait, don't hurt him!"

Alex now took a closer look at who he was dealing with. Before him was a kid, who looked like he couldn't be any older than thirteen. The boy had short blond hair that had a bit of dirt in it, he also garnished a cut that looked as though it had just recently scabbed over. The boy was looked terrified before Alex released him allowing him to fall to the ground. "Sorry about that, I'm still jumpy." Alex said as he reached back and slid his knife back into its sheath feeling the power of the rune go as quickly as it had come.

The old man stepped forward, he was warring white robes that had had intricate gold patterns on them who Alex assumed was the town's priest. Alex took a look about the church and saw that there was a large gathering of people there, at least thirty of them. They all looked as though they had gone though a lot over the time that they had been held captive. "Is there any more of them hiding here" Alex asked.

The old man shook his head, "There were other but they left once they had got what they came for, those five stayed behind and then demanded a ransom from the crown for are freedom." The man explained. "Were you who they sent to save us?" the man inquired.

"No." Alex replied "Just someone helping those in need." Alex said as he reached down and offered the kid who had yet to get up from where he had fallen to the ground. Lifting him to his feet the kid ran back to his mother before he saw that he was getting scolded for being so reckless. Alex smiled thinking that the boy was lucky to have family that cared for his well being.

The man nodded, "We don't have much here, but if there is anyway we can repay you, please don't hesitate to ask." the priest said as he pushed open the door and started to usher people out of the church.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Alex had turned and started to walk out before he stopped and turned to face the man. "Actually there is something…"

Walking into the room that he had requested from the in he now felt much better. It had been a long night so far, but he had to admit the townspeople were extremely resilient for all that had happened. The Priest had seen to it that the bodies of the bandits had been taken out behind the church and burned. The smell was unpleasant but better than the smell of rotted flesh he supposed.

He had taken a bath and was given fresh clothes while his laid out to dry. Past the bath, cloths and a room he had asked for nothing more. Sitting on the end of the bed in the middle of the small room Alex took out a apple and his map and ate as he studied his rout that he would take in the morning. He had already decided that he would get up early and leave long before anyone had the chance to honor him anymore than they had already. Letting out a long sigh Alex fell back on to the bed and closed his eyes and let himself fade into a deep sleep.

* * *

 _It had been two months since Kellinar had found and saved Alex back in Bertainal. While on their travels Alex had started to learn some valuable skills from the old man, as he was now being taught the basics of sword play by the man using sticks that they had picked up off the side of the road. Starting a few weeks into their journey Kellinar had informed him that they would be traveling to the nation of Hertail that was just west of Hilional it's sister. The two nations had both been one before the war of the Grand Monatin in which the Herinal Termin The Fifth Star of Ortainal had held off an army of ninety thousand men for three days and three nights so that the remaining forces of his people who founded Hertai could escape before he was finally killed in battle. If it hadn't been for his stand the nation of Hertail would have never been formed._

 _As they set up camp Alex began his now daily routine of practice the movements of intricate slashes and stabs. "You're being too stiff, relax your back… no with your other foot… Again" Kellinar would remark as he critiqued every little detail of the boys practice. After a hour or so Alex finally had burnt out on practice and tossed the stick over by his back before sitting across from his mentor._

 _"Why Herail?"Alex asked as he reached into the pan that was setting over the fire and plucked out some meat and began to eat._

 _"Why Hertail?" Kellinar said as he raised an eyebrow, "Well there is a many great reasons for us going to Heroma." removing the pan from the fire he rubbed his hands together to get some of the dirt out. "Well have you ever heard of the order of Herinal?" The man asked. Alex simply shook his head. "Well, long before the War of the Great Mountain, Herinal had decided to create a order that's purpose was to help those in need, no matter the cost, whether they help a small child or a small nation, they would answer the call of those in need." he said gazing into the fire. "Soon the order was granted a blessing from Ortainal who favored his Star, they were granted the oracle of need."_

 _"Ortainal gave them a person?" Alex asked._

 _Kellinar chucked "No not a person, it looks more like a mirror, only it's black unless it wishes to show you one in need."_

 _"Well there are lots of people in need." Alex started._

 _"Yes, but not all have a fate that is tied with the path of the world." Kellinar explained. "The order is comprised of those that the minor shows to the order." Kellinar when on "The order's name changed after the death of it's leader their goal still stayed the same… and it always will."_

 _"Well what do they call it now?" Alex asked._

 _Kellinar looked up "The Order of Shadows."_

* * *

 **I hope that that was good, if you liked it let me know by either fallowing, giving me a favorite or leaving a Review, if not well I still hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Okay, update time! I left you a little foreshadowing at the end there. Next chapter I plan to spend a little time with are friend at the Academy, Alex might not get quite as much "screen time" in chapter five.**

 **I'm hoping to introduce Tabitha into the story next chapter, I would have sooner but I couldn't think of the right time to do it.**

 **Also I kind of wanted to get Alex out of the Academy ASAP b/c I felt like him staying wouldn't fit his character. I also liked how The Real Lee is Here handled Saito in Devil Dog (if you like my story you should like his work as well).**

 **Though it's ages away and a lot has to happen I plan to make the was in Albion last a LOT longer, it pissed me off with Saito and Louise being on the sidelines of that hole thing. Also the time skip pissed me off after season two (I'll be fixing that thank you).**

 **Anyway enough from me. Have a wonderful day. Aaron out!**


	5. Chapter V: Rust

**First Review! Get out the fireworks!**

 _Hion (Guest)- MORE PLEASE_

 **Glad you like it, well I don't plan to slow down until school starts back up so here you go.**

 **Also only missed the 3K words per chapter thing by about 200 words this time, but I go by topic and that's only a goal :P**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **V. Rust**_

It had been two days since Alex had left and Louise was still in shock. No one had a familiar run away in the long history of the Academy, but she was more worried of that would happen when her sister Eleanor heard about it. Sitting on her bed she pushed her face farther into her pillow and let out a frustrated scream.

A few seconds later there was a light knock at the door, "Go away!" Louise yelled before pushing her face back into her pillow.

Half a second later she heard her doors lock click before the door swung open and Guiche stepped in. "You should try to be more social Zero, it might help a bit." Guiche teased as he took a few steps into the middle of the room before resting a hand on the table.

"What do you want Guiche…" Louise asked as she sat up throwing her pillow to the side.

"I hadn't seen you and decided to stop by." The said not showing any emotions.

"And why would you do that?" Louise asked failing to hide her depressed state in her voice.

"I promised to pass on a message from your familiar." at that Louise perked up a bit.

"You've seen him?!" She questioned bolting to her feet.

Nodding Guiche when on "I did, but that was a few nights ago right as he was leaving."

"And you didn't think to stop him!" Louise said obviously angry with Guiche for not stopping her familiar from fleeing.

"I didn't have my wand on me, and I don't like the prospects of fighting him again with magic let alone with my bare hands." He snapped and then let out a long sigh. "As I was saying," he when on. "He wanted me to tell you that he wanted you to know that he will return, and that he wants to pay you back for your help." With that Guiche turned to leave.

"Guiche…" Louise said quietly.

"Yes?" Guiche replied turning his head in her direction.

"Thank you." Louise said looking a little better than when he had found her.

* * *

Tabitha Helene Orléans de Galli was sitting in Kirche's room reading as her friend when on. "I can't believe that boy had to go and leave," Sighing Kirche sat on the end of her bed next to Tabitha. "It would have been so fun! Flame would have grabbed him up and brought him to me." She complained before letting out a long sigh.

Tabitha was not known for her word, she hadn't talked much since… well she didn't like to think of it too much. lightly reaching up she adjusted her glasses before brushing her sky blue hair out of her eyes nearly matched her hair in color.

Folding the corner of the page she was on she stood up and walked over to the window to Kirches room and opened and looked up into the night sky to see a dark figure ellipse the blue moon before hiding the pink one before fading into the rest of the black sky.

Kirche looked at her puzzled for a moment, "What are you doing?" as she stood and watched her friend sit on the ledge of the open window.

Without looking over to Kirche Tabitha replied, "Roof." Before leaping from the window into the night air.

Running over to the window Kirche saw Tabitha fling upward on her dragon familiar Irukuku. "You can never tell with her," Kirche said before returning to her bed as Flame strood over looking for attention that Kirche happily gave.

Once on the roof Tabitha found her favorite spot and sat down as she petted to nose of Irukuku before she opened her book and began to read some more.

* * *

It was early when Alex had left the town. People were in their homes and everything seemed much more normal as he left. Hiding in the shadows he slipped out without anyone seeing him leave. Now back on the main road the sun was in the middle of the sky as he munched on some the little bread and fruit that he had left. He had decided that it wouldn't take him very long to arrive at the capitol and had left a large number of his food outside of the the small shake on the edge of town, figuring whoever lived there needed it more than him.

Looking up he could faintly see the outline of the city. Placing his map into his bag he pressed on. "Can't be more than a half day's walk until I arrive" He thought aloud as he picked up his pace.

When Alex had finally entered the town square the sun was sitting low in the sky. Looking about he saw what looked like a inn off in the distance. Moving forward he was an oddly dressed man standing beside the entrance. The man was wearing a purple short sleeveless shirt that showed off the man's belly and tight black pants. On his left arm Alex could see a red banded tattoo. The man was also sporting a goatee that complemented his black hair but looked odd paired with the man's large red lips.

All in all he looked like he was mashing too many looks together and it confused Alex to no end. Stepping forward the man saw him and gave out a loud gasp. "I simply just love your hair!" he cried out "Especially that silver strip there just above your eyes." the man said with excitement.

Reaching up Alex felt the strip remembering that it was there."Oh, thanks?" he relied with a bit puzzled at the man's sudden advance.

"Say, I have a opening here, would you be at all interested? You'll get a place to stay and pay of course." the man said giving Alex a wink which made him extremely uncomfortable.

"You're the owner of this place?" Alex said gesturing to the building in front of him.

"Um-hum." The man nodded.

Alex needed a bed and a way to gain coin wouldn't be a bad bad thing at all.

Fallowing the man into the inn Alex saw a multitude of pretty girls in varying dresses going from table to table caring to the guests at their tables. The dresses had short skirts that showed off plenty of leg and they each had a band on their legs. To fit with that there was also a ribbon tied around their necks along with the a frilly white headband atop their heads.

Alex saw that nearly everyone in the building was in high spirits, there was people talking loud as they poured more bear into there already drunken bellies, laughter that rang out, and there was even a small group of men singing, though they didn't sound very good.

"Welcome to the Charming Fairies Inn!" the man said spreading out his arms, "You're job will be to wash plates and utensils in the back." the man said with a smile before turning and walking over to greet a group of people who had just entered.

Walking into the back Alex set his bag next to a basin that held hot water before grabbing a apron off of the wall.

"Well hello there!" He heard a girl call out.

Looking to his right Alex saw a girl. She was very pretty, she was wearing a long green dress that had accents of white and yellow that also showed off a lot of cleavage. Her hair was a dark black that stretched down her back. He found that the thing he like most was her steel gray eyes.

"Hi, I'm Alexander, but you just call me Alex." he said extending his hand which she shook.

"You must be the new busboy, I'm Jessica. I'm sure you've already meet my father Scarron." She said as she walked over to and grabbed a load of plates into the basin.

"Wait… that guys you're father?!" Alex said nearly dropping the plate that he was holding before he got a grip on it.

"Yeah… why is that surprising?" she asked.

Alex simply laughed and shook his head before getting back to work.

It was two hours past midnight when the final dishes had been washed. Scarron had paid him well… though he informed the man that he might not be there for more than a couple of days which didn't seem to bother the man.

Sitting on the bed that he had been provided Alex took out the coin that he had been given, he found fifty-two in total. Alex let out a sigh before falling back onto his pillow and closing his eyes.

* * *

 _The mountains towered over Alex and Kellinar as they walked. Alex had never felt so small in all his life. They were by far some of the most beautiful things he had ever laid his eyes on, and yet the size of them terrified him a bit._

 _The road was twisting and turning as it lead them further into the valley. Alex had learned that he was heading to the hope of the Order of Shadows to be brought into their fold, and that their base laid somewhere in these very mountains, though where he didn't know. Stepping forward Alex felt the stone beneath him give out as he started to slide he reached out and caught the hand of his mentor._

 _Kellinar pulled him and looked down before he gave a sigh "Watch your footing, even a short fall on these mountains could leave you with broken bones, or worse."_

 _"Sorry, I'll be more careful next time." Alex said as they started moving again. After a while Alex spoke up, "Why is the Order based somewhere so remote?" Alex asked as he hopped over a boulder that had fallen on the path._

 _Looking back for a moment Kellinar answered, "The Order, while a force for good, has many enemies that would love to see us burn in the void." He answered. "If you don't know what to look for it's easy to get lost in these mountains, and easy to defend if needed."_

 _Soon they had come the bottom of the Valley, there was a river that flowed in the middle. The Valley was covered with trees and grass. The sound of birds filled the air, Alex felt a sense of peace overflow him as he walked. As they walked the trees became thicker until they arrived at a cave._

 _"Though here is will be your new home." Kellinar said looking back to Alex who gave a slight nod as the two walked inside._

 _Alex saw a large stone door that had ancient markings that he couldn't read "What does it say?"_

 _Kellinar without looking away from the stone relied. "Give me the broken, the lost, the hope less. Let Ortainal guide them forward to the light and let them pour out good unto the world." As the last word was spoken the door lit up before it opened inward._

 _Stepping in Alex saw a walkway that led into the mountain and at the end of it here was a large room that carved out the center of the mountain. The room had 7 waterfalls that led into a pool that was in the center of the room. There was a large opening in at the top just above the pool that poured in light from the outside. There was hundreds of people running about and many were dressed in the same black uniform that Kellinar was. The old man came up behind Alex and placed his hands on his shoulders._

 _"Welcome to Herailhall, home to the Order of Shadows."_

* * *

Alex awoke with the light pouring into his room and rested on his eyelids. Rubbing his eyes he rose and got dressed for the day, placing his leather armor on before fastening his knife on the back of his waist. Alex picked up his pouch fixing it to his right hip before heading out of his room.

Entering the main floor he saw that all the chair where still sitting on the tables where they had been placed the previous night. Looking back into the kitchen Alex saw Scarron working on prepping food for the work day to come.

"Hey Scarron, when do we open?" Alex inquired.

"Not until noon Alex." The man said with a smile.

"Mind if I hit the town for a bit until then?" Alex said.

"Not at all, just make sure you're here for opening." The man said as he proceeded to light the oven.

"Thanks." Alex said as he turned and left the kitchen before reaching into his pocket feeling his coin before heading into town…

It had taken a while of searching but sure enough Alex had found a shop that sold weapons. Walking in Alex saw the salesman who Alex found resembled a mouse a lot right down to his pointy mustache. "Good morning valued customer!" The man said cheerfully as he put down a small dagger that he was polishing. "What can I do for you?" The man asked.

Alex looked around a bit picking up a sword and checked the craftsmanship. "I need to get some throwing knives." Alex said as he placed the weapon back on the rack where he had found it.

"Certainly." the man said diving under his table before he resurfaced with ten steel knives. That will be 7 coin per knife.

Alex looked at the group of knives and took hold of one, and instantly felt the rush of power that the just holding the weapon gave him. "I'll take the lot if you would be willing to part with them for fifty." Alex said.

the man scratched his chin for a moment before shrugging. "I can do fifty." he said before the two shook hands.

Alex took the knives and placed them in his pouch and gave the man a final nod before making for the exit. But just as he was about to leave he saw a old rusty sword that was sitting in a barrel with a load of scrap metal that was probably set to be melted down. Walking over he pulled the sword form the pile and observed it.

Holding up the blade he saw that the blade had a lot of rust covering the base. It was a long two handed weapon that only had one edge to it. The sword had a hinge that was clamped shut and the guard stretched up into the blade that had for bolts holding it the the blade.

If anyone else had seen it they would have thought it was nothing more than a piece of junk, but the rune told Alex a different story. Holding the blade Alex felt more power flow through him than any weapon he had held before it.

Alex looked to the shop keeper and held up the weapon. "How much for this old thing?" Alex asked.

The man squinted to get a better look at it. "Oh that old thing," he shook his head "You would be better off running into battle with that knife you have strapped to your back, it's just scrape at this point."

Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out his last two coins "For the scrap then." he said laying them on the table.

The man sighed "You can take the sword, I'll take this for the cost of its sheath, about the only good thing about the weapon." he said before walking over and handing over a pitch black sheath. "Hope you find some use for that old thing."

Alex thanked the man and slung the weapon over his shoulder before exiting the shop and returning back the Charming Fairies to start the work day.

* * *

 **And there is is Chapter five, hope you guys liked it. Well up next is Siesta getting taken by Mont, and that means more fighting! Tabitha and Kirche will be move involved down the line, but for now they will be mostly on the sided lines until Alex gets back to the Academy.**

 **Well hope you have a wonderful day, and enjoy the chapter while I start on number six!**

 **Aaron out!**


	6. Chapter VI: Eyes of Gold

**Hello, I hope that your 2016 is off to a good start! I want to start by letting you all know that the speed at which I come out with chapters will slow down a bit as I start school back up here. Don't worry I will still try to get at least one chapter out a week (and make them at least 3K or more).**

 **Any who** **on to the chapter! This will be a Alex POV only chapter, nothing important is happening at the academy until the Staff of destruction is taken.**

 **Also no new Reviews, though the site says I have two I can only see one… but when I see it I will respond ASPA! On to the chapter!**

* * *

 _ **VI. Eyes of Gold**_

As Alex Walked up to the Charming Fairies he noticed that there was a sign posted on the door, and another sign below that one with a large red x on it.

"I really need to spend the time to learn these people's language." Alex sighed at the prospect of attempting to learn how to read and write in a Language that he didn't know the first thing about, other than how to speak it thanks only to magic.

Ignoring the sign Alex walked pressed on the door to find it locked. Alex looked both ways before he reached into the pack on his hip and pulled out his lock picking tools and when to work on the door. The lock was simple to say the least, Alex didn't even think as his muscles worked of pure memory unlocking the door in no time. Returning his tools into his pack Alex pushed open the door before stepping inside and softly closing the door behind him.

Alex then heard two people talking as he slipped into the shadows of the room to avoid being seen until he was sure of the situation.

"Are you sure?" Alex instantly recognized a girl's voice, who he knew to be Jessica.

"I'm afraid so. Our poor sweet Siesta has been taken to work for that horrid Count Mott!" He could tell that the deep yet feminine voice was that of Scarron. Alex flinched at the mention of the servant girl who he had meet at the academy but remained hidden.

"How long ago, do we know for sure?" Jessica asked.

"Yes." Alex moved in and slightly opened the door to the kitchen where he had heard the voices coming from just in time to see Scarron reveal an opened letter. "This arrived from the Academy about a hour ago."

Taking the letter Jessica read over it, "But she can't work for that man! You know what he does with his servants!" She yelled obviously upset.

"I know but there isn't anything we can to dear." Scarron said dejected.

Standing up Alex slipped into the room undetected as the two when on and lend up against the far wall. "You may not be able to do anything about to help Siesta but maybe I can." he said staring the two down.

Jumping at the sound of another person both turned and looked at Alex. Jessica grabbed a pan holding it in a defensive stance which made Alex chuckle. "How did you get in here?! We locked the doors." She said.

"I am the member of the Order of Shadows, you think that a simple lock will keep me out of this place?" Alex said.

"Order of Shadows?" Jessica lowered her pan. "Never heard of it."

"Then we are doing a good job." Alex joked leaning forward from the wall and took a step into the center of the room. "I can get Siesta back from this Mott for you." Alex said now all business.

"Why would you help us though?" Jessica asked.

"I owe both Scarron and you for your hospitality," Alex's eyes seemed to grow dark. "Also I made a promise to Siesta that I would hate to for fill without her."

Scarron who had been quite now spoke up "You know my niece?" he asked.

Alex was surprised that they were related to Siesta, but looking he now saw that Jessica and Siesta looked a lot alike. "Yes I know her from the time I spent at the academy. Before I left I gave her a promise that I would return, I would hate to fulfill that promise without her." Alex stated.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Jessica asked, "He isn't just any old noble, he is a Count. If you try and sneak in and steal her away he will simply hunt you and her until you're both either dead or in chains!" She said with with obvious concern.

"I don't plan to sneak her out at all." this received a confused look from both Scarron and Jessica, "I plan to challenge the count to a due." Alex with obvious determination in in eyes.

"You'll be killed." She said bluntly, "The count is a Triangle mage."

"I can handle myself, besides you really don't have much of a choice in the matter." Alex said.

The two looked at each other before letting out a long sigh. "Well I guess we can't stop you, but be careful, maybe you can avoid death if you don't act rash." Jessica said.

"Be careful!" Scarron said, "It would be a shame to lose such a pretty face to someone like Mott!"

* * *

Alex had departed after a while and was now on the road again heading to the estate of Mott of the Wave as he was called by some. Alex was glad that the count lived relatively close to the capital, it made sense as he was a Palace messenger.

Guessing by how much longer he had to got before he would reach the home of the count Alex had guessed that he would arrive by nightfall.

After a while Alex felt a slight shift on his back as if his rusty sword was moving around on his back. Alex reached back and adjusted his sheath tying it tighter, he was using a rope to strap it to his back for the moment, but had decided that he would eventually need to replace it with a good strong belt, preferably one that would hold his throwing knives to boot.

After a while Alex felt the shift again this time much harder and he swore he felt his sword try to jump out of its own sheath, but that wasn't possible. Looking over his shoulder he saw no one, shrugging Alex moved forward. "I must be going crazy." Alex said aloud before taking another step forward.

"I sure hope not! I don't need another crazy partner." Alex's right hand instantly when to his back as he pulled out his sword and did a 180 to face the direction of the voice eyes alert and the comforting strength that his new weapon brought him. Darting his eyes from left to right Alex was now extremely concerned that even he was unable to spot anyone.

"Down here dummy!" the voice cried only for Alex to hop back expecting someone to be lying at his feet, only to see his sword in hand. Staring for a moment at the blade he then was a hinge on the guard move in sync with the voice he was now hearing "I'm still a little tired from my nap," the sword then gave out a long yawn before it when on "But I'm glad I'm not in that shop anymore partner!" the sword sounded extremely excited.

"A talking sword?" Alex questioned.

"I'm not JUST a talking sword, I am Lord Derflinger! But you can call me Derf if you like!" Alex was just staring before he broke into a fit of laughter. "WHAT?! Is it something I said?" The sword questioned in a confused tone.

After regaining his composure Alex replied "Oh, it's nothing… it's just I got the coolest sword in existence from a scrap pile for two coins no less!"

"Scrap pile?! Well now I'm really glad I got out of there!" The sword said letting out a sigh of relief.

"Well don't mention it." Alex said placing his new companion back in his sheath.

"Say where are we heading anyway?" The sword asked sticking out behind his partners right shoulder.

"We are going to get my friend back from a Messenger of the Palace, one Count Mott of the Wave." Alex said quickening his pace at now a little at the mention of the man.

"A messenger of the Palace you say? Are you strong enough to beat him?" Derf asked.

"Haven't seen what he can do, but I like my odds. Plus I got a magic talking sword to back me up." Alex said with a smile.

"I can tell I'm going to like you partner." Derf said and then slipped back into his home.

* * *

The estate of the Count Alex had to admit was pretty impressive, in terms of beauty at least. There had been a small brick wall that he saw on his approach that opened with two white pillars that were topped off by griffins what stood atop white and gold spheres. Inside the wall was a large open lawn that was very sparse, safe the decorative trees that had been placed about to give it a little life. Down the middle there was a long gravel path that led up to the main building itself with large shrubs lining the path that then had up to a grand water fountain standing right in front of it. The building was lit up as the sun had now hidden itself behind the horizon. The building itself was A large white structure with white support columns decorating the structure along with giving it a very noble look to it.

Walking up Alex saw a small patrol walking with strange purple dogs that had what looked like bat wings. "Compared to Cornvas, this is child's play." Alex said as he slipped forward as he quickly moved from cover to cover, and found it easy to do so thanks to the numerous shrubs on the path to the the Count's Mansion.

Walking up to the door Alex gave the lock a test to find that it was unlocked, "Well I guess when you're a triangle mage with a group of guards you're not really considered with break ins." Alex though as he slipped inside.

The inside was as nice as the outside, was his first thought. The Room had a black granite floors with a white portion that cut through it leading up to a grand staircase that slit going goth left and right with white steps that matched the color of the stone that led up to it and polished brass guard rails decorating the sides. Beside the stairs where two small tables on either side of the stairs that held identical curvy white vases and vibrant pink flowers. In the center of the room itself hung a large circular brass chandelier that poured light throughout the whole room.

Stepping into the center of the room Alex placed his hands into his pocket and strode into the center of the room hearing the light click of footsteps coming from whatever hallway was passed the top of the stair case.

"What's the plan partner?" Derf whispered.

"Challenge Mott for the freedom of my friend." Alex said bluntly.

"Are you sure that's the best plan?" Derf questioned.

"I don't think Mott will let her go at my behest, and I don't think stealing her away from him will end well either, I think he would probably just try and get her back to save his own pride." Alex explained as the footsteps were now coming closer and closer.

"Okay, just don't get yourself killed, I can't stand to spend another second in a armory." Derf joked before sliding back into his sheath.

Right as Derf clicked back into place the Count came into view. The first thing Alex though was that the Count looked a little on the thick side, probably from attending one to many feasts. The man had short brown hair that neatly combed to the side. The man had a thin pencil mustache and curly sideburns that when along with his thin eyebrows. He was dressed in navy blue and crimson formal wear along with a long red cloak that swayed as he walked down the stairs. The man also carried a twisty wooden staff that had a band of blue on the bottom that he was using as a cane, which Alex assumed was what he would use to case his magic.

The man gave nothing away as he descended the stairs, the look he gave telling Alex that he saw him as nothing other than a bug that he could simply crush at the drop of a hat if he so wished. Once the Count reached about the fifth step from the ground floor the man stopped. "And what is a commoner doing standing before me in my own home?" Mott said with a dull tone.

"I'm surprised you don't get more visitors, I mean your security is pathetic." Alex said with a grin, "I assume that your Mott of the Wave?"

"I would, now tell me why it is that I shouldn't call my guard and have them have you arrested." Mott said maintaining his tone that conveyed nothing by annoyance at the conversation that he was currently engaged in.

"I won't waste either of our time by drawing this out for you. I have come to take Siesta back to the academy." Alex replied in a confident tone that seemed to demand respect from his adversary.

Mott gave a wicked grin at he spoke, "Well I'm afraid to disappoint you, but I have… use for that particular servant of mine."

Alex gritted his teeth in anger before letting out his tension and regained his cool before speaking again. "Well then I Alexander Shadowheart challenge you to a duel, for the freedom of Siesta." now removing Derf from behind his back pointing him directly at the count holding him in his now fully extended right hand. The mixture of anticipation of a fight mixed with the power of the rune had him in a heightened state.

The count then burst into a fit of laughter before he regained his composure, "Well if you're looking for a quick death then I shall supply." raising his staff the vases to either side of the stairs came crashing to the floor spilling water and flowers everywhere before the liquid came flying up and formed orbs that floated behind the man. "I accept your duel, now prepare to die." And with the flick of his staff the water rushed through the air with blinding speed in an attempt to hit Alex.

Seeing the Attack Alex quickly rolled to his left before moving to try and get a hit in now that the water was away only to glance back and see that the water had already changed direction and was now moving back to it's masters defense which forced Alex stop and jump backwards to avoid taking a direct hit. "Shit Derf can't do anything to his attacks, hitting water does little more than split it into two different streams if I'm lucky." He thought as the water floated around Mott in a defensive nature. "I'm surprised that you were even able to dodge the first assault let alone the second, most people would be dead by now facing a triangle mage." The Mott said with a cocky grin, "It seems that I will have to up the game a bit!"

Alex heard it before he even saw it, which was probably why it hadn't crushed him. Diving to his left Alex was barely able to avoid the massive pillar that had broken down the door and now floated in a large sheet above the room. Looking back Alex saw that the fountain that he had passed on the way into the building was now empty, and the guards from that where in the lawn where sprinting toward the building after having undoubtedly having seen the water rush inside.

"Now I will teach you why they call me Mott the Wave." The noble said with a smile.

"This isn't good!" Derf chimed in as the water sheet split into hundreds of smaller orbs that scattered throughout the room.

"Well shit…" Alex said, and reached into his pouch for a few of his knives.

"Now try and dodge this!" Mott yelled as he lifted his staff and as he brought it down the orbs all flew directly toward his opponent.

Alex had just enough time to let loose one knife before the first few orbs started to pound his body. Alex had just enough time to see the knife make contact with the water floating around the Count before it stopped with the water that had turned instantly turned into ice upon contact shattering but leaving the Count completely unharmed.

The water seemed to come from every direction, the ground the air, it all come down fast and hard, feeling more solid than liquid. The pain was horrendous, though there was no blood Alex was sure that the bruising would be extensive. Alex knew that the Count wouldn't let up until he was either dead or unconscious, neither of which he could afford to allow to occur. But to his surprise the assault stopped. Alex quickly gasped for the air as he had refused to attempt to breath during the assault for free that the man would drown him. Looking up Alex felt even worse at the site of Mott grinning as he pointed his staff right at him. "I think I'll enjoy myself a bit before I kill you."

Flicking his staff Alex felt the water that had been absorbed by his cloths come to life causing him to fly off the ground and into the air. The water then proceeded to cling onto Derf pulling him out of Alex's grip and to the floor instantly removing the strength that the rune gave him and allowing the pain that it had held from him to came rushing in all at once.

"Partner!" The sword yelled as his new friend was floating into the air.

"Maybe you'll be able to beg for your life after this… but I doubt it." with swing of his staff Alex felt the water in his cloths rush to the side bringing him with it right into a stone pillar that was against the far right wall of the room.

As he made contact Alex felt everything go dark for a moment and begin to spin as he felt nothing but pain and the blunt trauma as he was slammed from wall to wall, ceiling to floor before the water had finally stopped. Shaking his head Alex tried to stand to find that he was unable to get his body to respond the commands that he was giving. Glancing up Alex could see that the Count was now letting loose a fit of laughter in enjoyment.

Alex gritted his teeth, "I'm going to die to that! This monster is who Siesta will have to serve for however long he finds her useful for… No I refuse to accept that!" Alex could feel the same power that he had felt when he had fought Guiche come flowing to him again, but this time it was even more powerful than it had been before.

As Alex let the light engulf him he felt all the pain in his body flee him as he simply pushed himself to his feet and looked the count in the eyes, "You know, you really piss me off." Alex said calmly.

Mott stopped laughing and then looked upon his opponent, "What happened to your hair? And those eyes!" He said as he took a step back, "You should be barely able to take a breath right now let alone be standing!" Mott now narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth and rose his staff into the air. "Fine enough games! Now you die!" He yelled as he slammed down his staff. In an instant all the water that was floating in the room turned into sharp icy swords. With a wave the icy weapons flew in for the kill.

Without a word Alex lifted his right hand and all the ice and water in the room froze in place even the ice that was only a few inches from his head.

Mott became hysterical at the sight taking another step back "W-what the hell is going on here."

"My turn." Alex said with before pointing forward and in a instant all the blade turned and faced Mott, and with a flick of his wrist the objects flew at incredible speeds at the count. The yell of pain the rang throughout the building was deafening. After a moment Alex let his hand fall back to his side and with it the remaining ice fell to the ground and shattered into millions of pieces that scattered throughout the room. Alex was now looking down at the now blood covered Count. Alex had been sure not to kill the man, but he had insured that the recovery would not be a quick ordeal to say the least.

Stepping forward Alex leaned over the wounded man who was now turning to move though his muscles had been badly hurt making his attempts only worsen his pain. Alex stopped beside the man before leaning down and pulled his dagger out and placing it to the man's neck.

"Listen closely, because I will not repeat this." pressing the knife into his neck a little which drew more blood Alex when on "I will be leaving with my friend now, however…" Alex lend the man now gazing directly into his golden eyes. "If you try and get revenge for this, you die. If I hear you're taking advantage of any other girls, you die. And finally if you ever harm anyone else for pleasure, you will die the slowest most painful death I can come up with." With that Alex removed his knife and sheathed the blade.

Looking out into the courtyard Alex saw a mass of guards and servants had formed who had been watching the duel ensue. Looking Alex saw a group of young girls dressed in servant outfits, and one of them was Siesta. Now facing the crowd Alex spoke. "Anyone who wishes to leave may do so, I can guarantee you will not be stopped." Alex looked at the guards who all took a nervous step back and all nodded in unison, to which Alex gave a nod back in approval.

Walking forward Alex retrieved Derf from where he had fell to. "You really gave me a scare there partner, maybe next time open with the hairstyle change, it seems to work a little better." Derf teased as he was placed on Alex's back again. Letting out a long breath Alex felt the glow fade and was half expecting to faint like last time but felt only a large amount of fatigue wash over him, but felt fine otherwise.

Alex looked forward and saw Siesta running over and she gave him a great big hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cried as she hugged him, "I was worried of what might have happened if I stayed here too long." She said with slight tears in her eyes as she stepped back.

"I'm just glad I was able to help." Alex said with a smile.

Siesta took a step forward with a slightly concerned look, "Y-your eye, everything is back to how it was before, except for your right eye. It's still gold!" Siesta said a little worried.

"Huh?" Alex reached up and felt his face, "It feels fine, It must just be a side effect of the powers that I used." Alex gave her a smile, "We should get going, it's a long ways back." He said as he walked in the direction of what he assumed was a stable.

"Where are you going?" Siesta asked as she followed closely behind.

"Mott won't mind if I borrow a few of his horses," Alex said with a smirk as he sighed at the idea of avoiding a long walk back.

* * *

 **And Happy first chapter of 2016! Well I hope you all liked it!**

 **I decided to make Mott a lot more of a threat in this version (that will be a common theme) because I want to give Alex an excuse to need to draw out his powers!**

 **Moving on, I have yet to pick a ship to sail with! The options are Louise, Tabitha, Siesta and Henrietta… but that will start in good time.**

 **Reviews, Favs, and Follows are all much welcomed, feel free to review even if you're just a guest or not… it's your life!**

 **Aaron out!**


	7. Chapter VII: Acceptance

**Hello again! It has been a good week since I was last seen, and that will become the norm as I march though** **school, though I will TRY to update as quickly as possible without putting out shit... no one likes shit. Anyway on to responding to Reviews!**

Anon- It's a bit confusing whenever you write in Alex's past. I advise you to use Italics every time you present a flashback to Alex's past.

 **I thought about it, and sure enough I fixed the issue. So now whenever there is a flashback there it will be in italics! Thanks for the advice and I hope that it helps to make the story better for you and others! (PS sorry for not responding earlier. The site didn't like your comment for some reason and didn't show it until recently)**

Guest- Great story really enjoyed it keep it up can't wait to see what happens next

 **Glad to hear that you like that you've seen so far. I plan to take it to higher levels later, but we haven't (fully) left the cannon story line yet. Major changes will happen latter on, so hang on tight!**

* * *

 _ **VII. Acceptance**_

 _Alex was tired to say the least. Kellinar never seemed to slow down with him, sure they had been working on the road but now that they no longer needed to travel Alex's days had been filled with nothing but training for the past six months. First he worked on his lockpicking, then he had spent the past two hours working on his swords play along with other combative skills, and now he was on his way to the lower levels to go over his stealth abilities._

 _Alex let out a low groan as he took a turn do the a set of stairs that took him deeper into the mountain. Alex wasn't the best when it came to sealth, and felt he was much more accustomed to fighting with his sword rather than sneaking around trying to avoid detection, not that he didn't recognize the value in being able to avoid detection._

 _Reaching the bottom of the stairs Alex came upon a large black stone door that he pushed open. Inside he was the large room that was poorly lit save for a few places that had posts carrying torches that gave off just enough light for one to walk safely around._

 _Standing next to the torch light Kellinar extended his arms "There is my favorite pupil!" grinning Kellinar flicked his wrist and a knife that had been hiding in his sleeve flew into his right hand. "Time for hide and seek." Kellinar Stepped back and faded into the shadows._

" _Shit, not even going to let me get adjusted to the dark before we start." Alex complained as he darted into the shadows to avoid losing the "game" before it even had a chance to begin._

 _From past experience Alex had learned the basic layout of the room, though he knew that Kellinar knew it better._

 _Tracing the far wall of the room Alex came to what seemed like a ditch, he had fallen into it multiple times on previous training sessions but he had come to memorize it's placing now. If memory served him correctly the trench was about fifty feet in length, and about 4 feet deep. Alex jumped down and getting into a crouch he followed the trench until he can to roughly the center before peeking over the edge._

 _Alex was just now adjusting to the dark and he felt the all too familiar twist in his gut as he saw nor heard anything, though he knew that his teacher was out there, stalking him. This was a common occurrence with his master. Alex, try as he might, could never heard or see the man until he was right up on him. When asking how he did it Kellinar always told him the same thing, "I do exactly what I teach you, the only difference is that I have mastered the art, you haven't." and that was always followed up by a lecture on how he needed to improve his foot placement, breathing, or even how he had carried his equipment._

 _After a moment Alex decided that he should move, he was already outmatch enough without standing in one place waiting to be caught._

 _After looking both ways to see if the coast was clear, Alex grabbed onto the ledge and pulled himself up. Looking about Alex picked up a stone that laid on the ground and tossed it off into the distance. The thud echoed across the room as Alex started to stride to the opposite end of the cave like room._

 _Alex didn't expect to fool his master with the trick, but he did hope that it would distract him enough to cover the soft barely audible steps that he took._

 _He had to admit that he had come quite a long way since he had initially begun his training with Kellinar. When he had started his footsteps echoed across the whole room, he had lasted less than a few moments in their game that time. "You're so loud I could have found you if I was deaf!" his master had commented after they had finished._

 _Sliding Alex attempts to hide behind a one of the many boulders in the room. "I need to find him and fast!" Alex though. Just then there was the sound of rocks sliding on the ground. "There!" feeling his heart start to beat fast Alex raises and turns to the sound pulling his knife ready to charge in and open combate. "I knew it would happen one day! No one can avoid slipping up forever!" Alex smiles before he feels his heart drop to his gut as the feeling of cold steel touches the back of his neck._

" _Sorry son… but you still have a long ways to go." Kellinar says as he lowers the blade from Alex's neck. "But you have come a long way from when you first started." Alex turned to see his master smiling down at him._

" _T-thanks." Alex says feeling a little disappointed in the loss but also a little proud that from his master's complaint._

 _Placing his hands on Alex's shoulders Kellinar flashes a quick smile. Kellinar spoke plainly as he lead Alex to the exit "Come let's go to the training chambers, we need to work on your footwork some more.", Alex let out a groan at the idea of more repetitive foot work, Kellinar would have him practice for hours and critique him all the while._

" _I'll compromise today, we can do a little extra weapons training at the end." Alex smiled as they walked out._

* * *

Alex was more than happy that they had taken a horse this back to the Academy instead of walking. He and Siesta had both been riding non stop since they had left Mott's estate. Siesta had slept most of the ride, Alex was happy to let her as she sat in front of him so that she wouldn't be in danger of falling off.

The sun had only come into view a few minute ago and Alex was just now seeing the gate to the grounds coming up fast as they rode. Alex lifted his right hand and gave Siesta a light shake to wake her.

"Hey," Alex said as she slightly opened her eyes, "We're here."

Yawning Siesta rubbed her eyes trying to get the sleep out, "You didn't stop last night?" She said apparently still half asleep.

Riding past the gate they entered the main courtyard. Pulling back on the reins Alex brings the horse to a stop. Alex chuckled "I wasn't that tired, besides I wanted to get back to somewhere a little more familiar as soon as possible."

The grounds where nearly empty save the few servants who were walking laundry that had been set to dry the previous night back to the dorms. Alex had remembered Louise trying to explain to him that it was his job as a familiar to take care of dressing her along with washing all her dirty cloths. This was something that Alex immediately recognized as a lie. For one no student in living memory has had a human familiar according to what Alex had heard, and he doubted that the other creatures were able to do things like that for their masters. So Alex concluded that someone had to have been doing her laundry before he came.

Sighing Alex then realized that returning also meant facing that pick nightmare. Sliding off the side of the horse Alex landed on the ground which brought a feeling of relief to his legs which had gone numb from sitting in the saddle for so long. Reaching up Alex grabbed Siesta by the waist and lifted her down from the saddle. Siesta landed on the ground and looked away shyly, "T-thanks. For everything." She blushed as she said this.

Alex smiled as he grabbed the reins of the hours "Don't worry about it, I was just glad to help." Alex started to lead the horse the to stables before looking back, "Oh, before I forget," Siesta looked over still a little red in the face. "You should write to Jessica." Alex advises.

"I-I will!" Siesta yells before she realizes something, "You meet my cousin?!" Siesta says in shock.

Looking back Alex gives a slight nod, "Yeah, I can explain latter!" turning back Alex leads the horse the rest of the way back to the stables.

"Alex…" Siesta whispers to herself as she watches him walk into the distance. Smiling to herself Siesta clutches her chest, "Thank you a thousand times."

* * *

Louise had woken up to the morning sunlight streaming into her eyes. Sitting up she let out a long yawn and pushed her covers aside and hopped out of bed and made her way over to her dress to retrieve a fresh set of cloths for the day.

Opening the dresser Louise picked out her white uniform top, black skirt, and black cloak that signified her status as a second year. Setting out the cloths on the end of her bed Louise looked out the window with and felt a sad feeling wash over her.

It had now been five days since her familiar had left the academy. "The Evolution Fair is tomorrow, and her Highness will be here." even as Louise said it she could feel her heart falling into her stomach. She had all but lost hope in what Guiche had told her. _"He wanted me to tell you that he wanted you to know that he will return, and that he wants to pay you back for your help."_ But she wasn't so sure that he would. Sighing Louise walked over to her vanity table and picked up her brush and when to work fixing her hair.

* * *

Alex walked up the familiar steps of the school's dorms. A few students had exited their rooms and where would all give Alex looks of varying emotion. Some of them fear, others respect, and a few of hate, and even a few girls with longing gazes. Alex felt uncomfortable, he guessed that he was still fresh in everyone's mind from his fight with Guiche, though he was glad that no one had yet to approach him, he already had to deal with one magical brat, he didn't need to deal with another right now.

As Alex reached the top floor of the dorms he walked to the end of the hall and now found himself standing face to face with the door to Louise's room. Letting out a long sigh Alex was about to knock on the door, but as he was raising his hand the door flung open and Louise who was in a hurry ran right into Alex's chest.

"Ouch!" Louise said stumbling back, "Sorry I wasn't…" Louise started to apologize before she had a good look at who she had run into.

Letting out an audible gasp as she now recognized the undoubtable face of her familiar in front of her. She was shooked at how is features continued to change over time, first it had been the strip of his hair that had turned white after his fight with Guiche, but now it was his right eye. In the place of the emerald green that his left eye held, it had turned into a pure gold. The change had definitely was odd, she had never seen something like that happen before, though this boy as had a lot of firsts occurring around him.

Shaking her head Louise put aside the thought and decided to move onto more pressing matters… like where the hell her familiar had gone!

"Where the hell have you been!" Louise demanded, shouting as she spoke.

Alex sighed, he had expected this after all. "I'm in a world that I have never spent a single day of my life in… I wanted to learn a bit more about it before coming back here. Infact the only reason I'm here now is because I'm returning Siesta from Count Mott's estate, otherwise I would still be trying to explore your world."

Louise was puzzled now, who was Siesta? Thinking back she remembered quite a fuss from the servants a few days ago about one of the girls being taken to the estate of Count Mott to live there, which Louise had heard horrible stories about… wait a second!

"Y-you went to save that servant girl from Count Mott!?" Louise was shocked.

"Yes, why is that a problem?" Alex replied coolly.

Louise was trying to wrap her mind around it, fighting Guiche was one thing, but to fight a Triangle mage and survive was unheard of for someone who was not of a noble! While she knew that Alex had shown the ability to wield magic she also had decided that he couldn't summon it at will, an extreme disadvantage in combat, which was why he was beaten so bad by the Valkyries.

"So you snuck in and stole the servant girl away right?" Louise asked nervously.

Alex simply shook his head, "Let's leave it at that Mott would be stupid to take another mistress after what happened." Turing Alex started back down the hallway to leave the dorms.

Louise just stood in her doorway for a moment still trying to wrap her head around she had been told and everything that it implied. "W-where are you going?" Louise called as her familiar started down the hall.

"I haven't eaten in forever, I'm heading to the dining hall." Alex said without so much as turning to face her.

Louise quickly followed, "What is he?" she thought to herself as she followed him.

* * *

Jean Colbert had been in a state of panic for the last few days. Ever since the Gandálfr had run away both he and Osmond had been in a state of panic. Luckily for them the headmasters hatred of writing any reports to the Royal Palace had finally done them some good.

For now they were safe, but things wouldn't stay that way for long once the Evolution Festival started. If they didn't inform her majesty upon her arrival that Gandálfr had appeared then when he eventually resurfaced there would be a price to pay.

Sighing Colbert opened the door to the headmaster's office. He was greeted by the man's Aid Miss. Longville, "How are you this morning Jean?" She smiled. Colbert found it annoying to be called by his first name by the women, he barely even knew her.

"I'm fine Miss. Longville." Colbert gave her a courteous smile before approaching Osmond who was conversing with Chuchu.

Looking up to his guest Osmond set his little friend down and started to speak, "Ah, I was just going to call for you Colbert, I have wonderful new!" Colbert was shocked, Osmond had been in a worse state than him over the past few days since Gandálfr left.

"What would that be sir?"

"Gandálfr has returned," he spoke happily, "It seems that he brought back that servant who Mott took a few nights ago back with him as well."

Letting out a long sigh Colbert felt the feeling of relief wash over him, "Well this is great news."

Nodding Osmond pulled out his pipe and lit it and took a puff of smoke before he spoke again, "Now back to the matter of the reports of his use of magic…"

* * *

As Alex followed Louise into the dining hall he was amazed by the sheer size of the room. The ceilings of the loomed above, which held massive bronze chandeliers even bigger than that of the one that he had seen at Mott's Estate. Along all the walls were stone statues that held stone long swords, bows, axes, and wands. But what caught Alex's attention was the three long tables that stretched down the middle of the room. The tables were separated by what Alex assumed was Class years. On the far left table sat students in Brown cloaks, in the middle students in black, and on the right students in purple.

The smell of the food was intoxicating, "So this is what Marteau made for the students." and Alex thought they were spoiled before now!

Fallowing Louise down the middle row Alex looked over the food and noted that the meal was made up of small loaf of bread, with a main dish of a pasture with soap on the side and a slice of cake for dessert, and a tall glass of fresh juice to wash it all down.

At about half way down the table Louise stopped in front of a chart and gave Alex a cold look, that instantly annoyed Alex "Would you pull back the chair already."

Alex felt grew angry but pulled back the chair anyway, after all Kellinar had insured that he treated women, even those who didn't treat him with respect, as ladies, most especially if you planned to steal or plant something on them.

Pulling back the chair Alex pushed Louise up to the table before moving to take a seat next to her only to receive a odd looks from not only her but also a few of the people around him, but ignoring them he took his seat anyway.

Louise in a hushed tone spoke up "What do you think you're doing!? This table is for nobility only, commoners aren't welcome to sit here."

This instantly touched a nerve with Alex, he had had it with the damn nobility. Looking her in the eyes Alex raised his voice for the first time that day and everything seemed to go red as he spoke, "I'm done with you people and you're damn superiority complex, if you want to make me submit then you're free to face me in a duel!" Calming down Alex saw that everyone was now frightened, and he knew why.

In the middle of each of the three table where candles spread through the middle of the tables stretching to the end. While why had been normal upon entering the room, they how each had flames coming off of them the flew a good four feet in the air. On top of that the candles on the chandlers that held hundreds of candles where now in an all out blaze causing wax to begin to rain down on the students.

Alex was startled himself from the sudden change in that had occurred, and was now fully aware of push of power that he felt. Standing up Alex started to walk out of the room only for Louise to call out in what seemed like consure to Alex "Where are you going?!"

"To the kitchen to get my food!" He called back without looking. As he exited the room the flames died out completely leaving behind a mass of smoke and melted wax.

* * *

Louise was shaken by what had just happened. This was the second time that she had seen her familiar demonstrate magic, and the power that he had used was mind boggling, not even Kirche who was already a Triangle mage could have done something like that!

The students were all now making a mass exodus of the hall, and some looked as though they need treatment for burns from being too close to a candle when it had gone off. Everyone who had been beneath one of the chandeliers was now covered in now dry candle wax as they made their way out.

There was a small group of three year guys who had gotten into a group and were all talking and a few looked over at Louise before returning to their discussion. Ignoring the glances Louise marched outside, wanting now only to get away from the smell of smoke that still clung to the air.

Guiche was standing just outside the courtyard helping Montmorency remove the candle wax while she kept complaining on how it would take forever to remove it from her hair while Guiche tried to attempt to calm her down.

Spotting Louise Montmorency turned hostile, "Zero! What the hell was that?!" she barked pushing Guiche to the side as she made her advance.

"You think I had anything to do with that!" Louise who was already on edge shouted back.

Montmorency poked Louise hard in the chest and continued her rant, "Listen flat chest! It is your familiar, control it!"

Louise was now furious, not only had she just called her Familiar a "it" but she had also dared make fun of the size of her breasts, which she was already self conscious enough about without someone talking about them. "You saw what HE was capable of?! If the ritual can't make him obedient to me what do you want me to do, duel him?" She was shouting.

Montmorency took a step back at the retort, and opened her mouth as if to say something before turning to leave, "Come on Guiche, let's go before Zero's disobedient familiar comes back, if we are luck he ran away again."

Guiche seemed to be a little torn, turning to face Louise now he spoke, "I don't think it would be wise to try and control him. Just my thoughts." and with that he turned and followed after Montmorency.

* * *

Alex had no problem gather some left overs from Marteau and the rest of the staff before he had made his way to the roof of the roof of the dorm that Louise called home. He had noticed the doors to the dining hall were still open as servants carried out the tables to be cleaned of wax and boxes of fresh candles were being carried in.

Finishing off that last of the load of bread that he had taken he found a place that he found comforting enough to sit in while he though.

Sitting there he finally let his mind wonder, "What his happening to me?!" he finally said aloud his voice shaky. He had had the thought ever since his fight with Guiche but he had yet to allow himself to ask the question, attempting to put it in the back of his mind in favor of trying to navigate his circumstances.

Felling his sword shake Derf who had been silent since they had left Mott's manson now slid from his sheath and spoke up, "Hey partner, you seem to be pretty shaken up there." his comrade said in concern.

Alex jumped at the voice still not used to having a sentient being being strapped to his back. Calming down a bit Alex spoke feeling his voice still held a little shaky even as he tried to remain calm, "Y-yeah, it's just that this is all too much right now." He spoke putting his right hand to his head as he tried to get a grip.

"Well I can see why, none of my other Partners have ever wielded magic, and you don't seem to be able to use it at will." Derf noted.

"Yeah, by all rights I should be that last person alive wielding magic." Alex could only think of one thing right now, Noname. He was abandoned by Ortainal he should be the last THING on Earth to be able to use the codes, but yet he had used two of them, which in itself was unheard of by anyone but…No that couldn't be… It SHOULDN'T be.

Quickly Alex removed Derf and as he began to remove both this armor and his shirt as he attempted to try and take another look at the mark he had seen after his fight with Guiche.

"What are you trying to do partner?" Derf asked now more confused than ever.

Ignoring his friend Alex pulled his shirt over his head before Glancing at the making on his left shoulder and pec. The Seven Star pattern that he had first noticed when he awoke in Louise room. Rising his right hand he reached for the power trying to call it forth. After a long moment he felt it begin to come to his calling. Snapping his fingers a jet of fire leaped from his hand and flew into the sky before dissipating in after flying about thirty feet into the air.

Looking down Alex saw that the marking was glowing a bright sky-blue as, however only half of one of the seven stars on his pec was emitting the light that the rest of the mark was. Trembling Alex allowed himself to fall on to his knees.

"What is it partner?!" Derf was now very concerned for his new friend, what with the fireworks at the dining hall and now this!

"I think," Alex was in a state of shock at his line of thinking though he had all but removed all doubt from his mind. "I'm the Seventh Star of my Lord Ortainal."

* * *

 **Well there you go! I though about finishing the rest of that day but I just loved where that left it off at (plus I wanted to get out some new content for you guys haha).**

 **Tabitha will be in the next chapter (yay!), and Alex will meet** **Henrietta, along with fighting some more people!**

 **Anyway, if you like this chapter please Favorite, Fallow, and if you have anything you want to ask, suggest, critique, or hell just yell at me for, leave a review and I will answer it in the next chapter! Thanks guys!**

 **Aaron out!**


	8. Chapter VIII: Servant of his Lord

**One week later. This felt like it took longer than a week to write... I've been really bogged down lately with school, but hey, I got it out on time! Now on to review.**

xXgabeXx- MOAR DAMMIT, I NEED MOAR. In other news, great chapter! Small spelling mistake I noticed though you keep writing 'fitting' instead of 'fighting in some places.

 **Here is you MOAR! Thanks for the** **support, and I went back and fixed that... I need to edit more often, haha.**

UnholyDriver- Just a heads-up, in chapter one you wrote the runes as appearing on his right hand. Might want to go back and fix that.

 **Thanks, and fixed!**

Guest- can you reference what your material is, i am unfamiliar with it. not a bad concept...

 **That would be strait out of my head... I made a whole lore behind him and his world, though it's not all done yet. Also glad you like the idea!**

 **Well that's all from review, on to the chapter!**

* * *

 _ **VIII. Servant of his Lord**_

"The Seventh what?" Derf asked confused.

"The Seventh Star of Ortainal." Alex, looked over at his sword like he was crazy.

"Who even is Ortainal to start with partner?" Derf asked.

Alex had never considered that the people of this world didn't worship Ortainal, which might have something to do with why there was no one here with one of his codes.

"He is the God of my people," Alex said bluntly.

"Your God huh? Well this is odd then…"

"What's odd?"

"Well you're Gandálfr after all!" Derf shouted out as if it was obvious.

* * *

Tabitha had been as shocked as anyone when the candle in front of her had burst into flames. The wax by far been the worst part though, it had gotten everywhere, but she had mainly been concerned for her open book.

The tension for the students had slowly came down since then, though there was still a large group of third years who had been slowly growing throughout the day. According to Kirche, who was currently "dating" one of them, they were planning to make an example of Louise's familiar.

Sighing she called out to Sylphid, who swooped down and landed in a clearing in the courtyard. Patting her flying friend on the neck Tabitha slowly climbed on her familiars back. Once she was safely positioned her Dragon took off, instinctively knowing where her master wanted to go.

After a short flight, Tabitha hopped off of Sylphid onto the roof, waving as her friend flew away to find a snack in the woods near by.

Walking toward the nook on the roof where she normally sat while reading, she quickly spotted Louise's familiar napping there. Tabitha would normally have just ignored the boy and gone on reading while he slept, but she had grown rather attached to her reading spot. She felt that not sitting there would just feel wrong and thus take away from her ability to get into the material.

Taking her staff Tabitha poked the familiar until he finally awoke. Looking up the Familiar appeared annoyed with her.

"What do you want?" he asked obviously still trying to both wake up and assess the situation at hand.

"Seat." Tabitha respond in her usual monotone voice.

"Seat?" the boy asked before looking down at the nook that he was currently sitting in. Slowly standing up the boy moved to out of her spot.

"Uh, sorry." The boy said looking slightly confused at the what was happening.

Ignoring him Tabitha took her seat and opened her book as she attempted to get engrossed into the current novel that she was reviewing. She had read the book twice before but she always reread books. She believed that you didn't truly understand the content of a written work until you had at least visited it twice, three times if it was a long or complex topic.

After a while she noticed that the boy was still there leaning up against the stone railing of the tower. She continued to attempt ignore him until he finally spoke up.

"You're that girl who hangs out with that red head… Kirche right?"

Remain silent Tabitha hoped that if she just stayed quite long enough the familiar would just leave, it usually worked with everyone else. But the boy seemed to remain persistent as he simply stood there watching. Tabitha soon realized that he had no intention of leaving anytime soon, and she soon found that she couldn't focus anymore on her book, making it pointless to read if she wasn't fully absorbing the material.

Folding the corner of her page Tabitha put the book to the side now looking boy trying to see what she could read off of him, but found little.

"What do you want?" Tabitha said with her normal lack of emotion.

"From what I can gather you're possibly the most literate person in all of the academy." The boy keep a serious tone as he spoke, almost acting as if this was some sort of business transaction.

Tabitha thought for a moment and simply gave the ever so slight nod of the head. She had never like to carry conversations, and was introverted even when it came to Kirche, who was her best and arguably only friend.

Nodding back in response to the slight movement the familiar when on, "I have a… odd request." leaning forward the boy took a step from the stone ledge and narrowed his eyes as he spoke. "While whatever form of magic Louise accidentally cast to allow me to speak the tongue of this world, it sadly failed to make me literate."

Tabitha could see where this conversation was heading, and she didn't like it. It wasn't that she was opposed to helping the familiar or that she thought she wouldn't be able to help, but she disliked the prospect of the amount of communication that it would take to accomplish.

"So I would like to ask if you would help me in that respect, I would be eternally grateful. Plus I figure that I will probably be in this world for quite some time." turning the boy looked up into the twin moons seeming to find himself lost deep in thought.

Tabitha's first instinct was to say no and return to her book and let the problem simply fade away, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say that simple word. This wasn't like her, all logic said that the helping him would be a waste of her time, if not a dangerous one based on the power that this boy held if she frustrated him with lessons.

Against her better judgement Tabitha simply replied, "Okay." her voice gave little away as always as she opened her book before directing the boy to sit next to her, she new felt that this may take a while.

* * *

Alex had been worried that the blue haired girl would have told him off, but he felt that his day had finally had a high point, now happy that he would soon be able to understand the written language around him.

He had seen the surprise on the girl's face when he had memorized that alphabet in such a short span of time, in fact Alex had shocked himself with the speed that he had started picking up the language. The only thing that he could think of that would have changed his sudden ability to pick up information was the powers that now flowed through his body, which even he was still trying to fully understand.

Walking down the stairs toward Louise's room Alex found his mind once again returning to what he had come to learn that day. Not only was he sure that he was the Seventh Star of Ortainal, he also had learned that he was this important figure for the people of Halkeginia named Gandálfr.

Thinking on it he knew very little about the abilities of the previous Stars, much of their abilities were drastically dramatized over the years, the last one to walk the world before him was Lady Sixth, Hara Longclaw. The only thing that was for certain was that they could use the powers of all other codes, which Alex had started to experience. Still a little shocked over become the star was overwhelming enough with the fact that he wasn't born keeper, much less being born a Noname. Wondered he though about if this had been the case for any of the other Stars. There were so many questions that he needed to have answered but there was no one in this world to get any answer from.

Alex sighed and gave a knock on Louise's door. After a moment with no reply Alex attempted to pushed the door open only to find that it was locked. Letting out a long sigh Alex retrieved his tools from his pack to pick the lock. Remembering how Kellinar had always commented about how most locks did nothing more than present people with the illusion of security, which Alex could now fully vouch for from experience.

Picking the lock to the room was almost as easy as turning a key as Alex pushed to door open and walked in.

The room was quite dark save the small amount of light what the moons provided through the half drawn curtains along with the light that streamed in from the door which he quietly shut behind him. Alex was easily able to recognize the bulge on the bed that distributed what was usually a well made plain of cloth to be Louise's sleeping form.

Alex looked to the ground and saw that the hay that she had laid out when he had first arrived had been removed leaving the naked wooden planks in its place. Sighing again Alex removed Derf, who had long since "gone to sleep", and leaned his friend up against the wall next to what would soon be his temporary bed. After he had removed the stiff leather armor and his pack along with his knife Alex sat on the wooden floor and lend himself up against the wall.

Looking over at his roommate, Alex couldn't help but smile seeing the peaceful look her face held. Closing his eyes Alex let the weight of everything vanish as he found himself drifting into a deep sleep.

* * *

It seemed that no sooner than Alex had closed his eyes that he felt the light of what he assumed was the morning sun hitting his eyes. Sitting up Alex rubbed his eyes and immediately knew that something was horribly wrong, instead of finding himself in the the quiet of Louise's room in the Tristain Academy Alex was in the white city of Corvans leaned up against one of the Black pillars of a government building.

Darting to his feet Alex looked around, not only trying to confirm that he was actually in the city, but also so search for Derf and the rest of his weapons which now seemed to have failed to have traveled back with him.

Alex's mind was starting to race, how had he gotten here, when he had been drawn to Halkeginia it was because of the summoning ritual, but he couldn't see anything that would have pulled him back. After a moment Alex heard the sound of a large group of what he guessed where soldiers running toward him from the street adjacent to him. Panicking Alex Quickly turned to look for a place to hide. Thinking that any soldier who was worth his salt wouldn't have been forgotten him after his assassination of Sir Davis Bryor.

Turning to run into the ally Alex came face to face with a girl with long bright Auburn hair that hung over the panicked gray eyes of the girl who had instantly froze in place just before reaching the end of the alleyway.

Alex could do nothing more than look at the girl, she was about the same age as him, maybe a year younger but she was obviously much shorter than him. He guessed that if they stood side by side her eyes would have only reached up to his shoulders. She held a very petite frame that was prevalent even from the baggy clothes that she was draped in.

Her clothes were a dark brown that looked as if it whatever material that it had originally been made of now was greatly outnumbered by the patches that held the garments together. However even the clothes couldn't hide the beauty of the frightened girl.

Alex felt odd looking at this girl, he felt connected to her in someway that he couldn't quite understand. But soon his thoughts returned to the troops that he now realized where just paces away from him as he snapped back to reality.

"Shit!" Alex said realizing that even if he attempted to run into the alley now he would undoubtedly draw this girl into any conflict that he would bring with him. Knowing as well as anyone who had grown up in Oldtown that the poor and beggar of Dermina had been kept out of the city upon punishment of imprisonment or death since the reign of Grand Keeper Kervain Horthfaith III two-hundred years after the last days of Lady Sixth.

The girl stepped further back into the Alley hiding behind a crate that was barely big enough to obscure her from view.

Turning to face the footsteps, Alex prepare himself for a fight against the highly trained troops of the Derminian army. Alex knew that he could have taken up to three of them when he had left the Order of Shadows to complete his revenge, but right now he was without a weapon. Knowing that he held the power of the Code of Light in him, he also knew that he had yet to learn how to control his powers, when he had tested them earlier it had taken him roughly five minutes of searching before he had found the power. Doubt on the outcome of the fight that he was about to enter dominated his mind as the first soldiers turned the corner.

Alex was now somewhat prepared as he rapidly attempted to find the power like that he now needed, expecting the guards to stop and demand his surrender his plan rested on keeping them talking until he was able to tap into his powers, but Alex was shocked when the guards didn't even flinch at his sight, they just kept on running forward.

Bracing himself Alex prepared himself for the force of the group of men fully armored with white chainmail and steel plating to crash into him with the full force of their momentum. Closing his eyes Alex braced for the impact of the first soldier, but after a moment Alex was confused that it hadn't come, and he knew there was no way the man had had time to stop from hitting him. Opening his eyes Alex's reflexes took action as the body of another soldier was just inches from his face. Jumping back only saved him a few more moments before the man caught up with him. However instead of being knocked to the ground, the man simply pass right through him as though he were made of nothing but smoke.

Alex instantly felt a sense of panic envelop him as he now struggled to try and understand what was going on. After the last few troops vanished down the street the Auburn haired girl come out from the Alleyway looking in the direction that the soldiers had run before letting out a sigh of relief.

"What just happened to me?!" Alex yelled now letting the panic lose, "How did I get here, and who are you?!" Alex was yelling at the top of his lungs but the girl seemed to be just looking past him into the distance.

Alex exhausted from the stress that the whole situation was putting on him fell to his knees and just looked into his hands wondering if he was just going mad now. Desperately wanting to believe that this was just a bad dream, but this was far too real to be a just another dream.

"There you are," Alex looked up to from his hands to see a bald man walk into view from the same street that the group of men had just come from. "Did you get away with it?"

The man was tall and had a large strong build that remained Alex a bit of his man was dressed in a long gray cloak that covered up whatever he held wore underneath. The man's left eye was sewn shut and held a deep scar running vertically up and down his brow. His remaining good eye was a deep hazel that looked kindly upon the girl.

Turning around the girl gave a smile of relief to the man before nodding "Um-hum." she hummed.

Smiling the man put out his hand as the girl passed him a thin rolled up piece of paper tied with twine. He gave the girl a kind smile and with his other hand ruffled her hair, "Great work Hara. For Nonames you Longclaws sure are the best."

Alex's mind when blank. That wasn't possible, even if this was a dream he couldn't really be looking upon the Sixth Star Hara Longclaw… she had been dead for hundreds of years, and he had never seen her as an adult, let alone a child! Alex was now only more confused as he now became aware of his surroundings slowly becoming distorted like a reflection in the water that had been disturbed.

As things turned to black Alex felt like he was spinning as he heard a far off voice calling out to him as he slipped from this reality back into what he hoped would be his own.

* * *

Bolted upright Alex found himself back in the familiar room of the pink haired brat. Looking up he saw that the girl in question was currently looking down on him with her hands on her hips. She was dressed in her school uniform and had a very displeased look on her face.

"Finally you're awake." She said now crossing her arms, "How did you even get in here last night? I locked the door!"

Alex was having trouble paying attention to her as his mind was still very much on what he had seen in his sleep. He still didn't know what he should make of it, but he knew that whatever it had been it was more than simply a dream.

Shaking his head Alex forced himself to remove his mind from his thoughts. "Sorry, what?" Alex asked before seeing her annoyed look at his lack of attention.

"The door." Louise sighed annoyance with his lack of attention.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Alex said standing up as he dusted off his pants. "I picked the lock. I could have done it in my sleep to be honest." Alex said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Dumbfounded Louise felt dejected as she had only recently been able so successfully use magic to open the lock on her door, and even now she it still took some concentration to do properly. And yet Alex thought of her lock as child's play? This only helped to sour her mood even more..

Sighing Louise attempted to put her frustrations out of her mind, though as she spoke she it was still very obvious.  
"Whatever. Go get ready, the Evolution Festival is today and we haven't practiced anything for it!" Louise calmed down as she realized that she had crescendo into a yell by the end of her sentence.

Alex simply gave Louise a blank stare before simply nodded his head not being in the mood to argue with her. With all that was happening around him at the he didn't want to have to deal with her drama on top of everything else.

Walking out of the student quarters Alex was happy to be out in the fresh air as he felt that it helped clear his mind. There was a large number of servants who were running about putting the finishing touches on a stage that Alex supposed was for this festival that Louise had mentioned.

To the right of the stage was a large tent that Alex assumed was where the "acts" that Louise had gone on about would stay until they went on stage. Below the stage was multiple rows of chairs and near the front was an elevated stand with a throne, which meant only one thing, there would be a member of Royalty in attendance.

"Who is the guest of honor." Alex said cutting off Louise's speech on what she about what she wanted him to do when he got on stage that he hadn't been paying any attention to.

Stopping Louise looked at him like he grew a second head, "The Princess you block head!" she yelled now smacking him on the head, "I already said that!" She scolded him.

Alex didn't even attempt to give any reaction to the smack even though he knew she was putting as much force that she could into it, from his training he had long ago become accustom to dealing with hits much harder and well placed. Simply nodding he replied. "Sorry, I was lost in thought, I have a lot on my mind recently."

Louise felt guilty for a moment for hitting him but put it out of her mind "He's just a familiar… that can use magic… better than I can." Louise thought to herself now became more depressed at the thought now feeling dejected as she started for the dining hall.

Seeing where she was heading Alex decided to head for the kitchen instead and avoid risking another incident. "I'll take my food elsewhere." Alex called out as he turned to leave.

"Fine," Louise replied obviously still dejected.

* * *

Marteau's food was even better than usual today! Alex knew that he would never be able to look at anything the same now that he had started to become accustomed to being spoiled by the master chief.

"Marteau, this is far better than anything I've had from you before!" Alex said happily whipping his face after finishing the last bite of food, now fully content.

"Well when Royals are in town I have to make sure to go all out, so enjoy it while you can fist!" He responded enthusiastically. Normally he would only have given him leftovers but he was still excited over the candle incident the other day, so he made an exception.

Alex then turned around to see Siesta walking in carrying an empty silver tray. Walking over Siesta put the tray into a nearby basing and then gave Alex a smile. "Are you ready for the festival Mr. Alex?" She asked politely as usual.

Nodding Alex picked up his plate and utensils and carried them to the same basin that Siesta had just disposed her tray into, and placed his own dishes inside.

"Well as ready as I can be." He said not letting on to his true intentions for the event later that day.

"Well I know that you will do us all proud." Siesta chirped happily.

Just as Siesta finished speaking there came a sounding of trumpets off in the distance from the direction of the main gate. Drawing the attention of everyone in the kitchen including Alex the staff all stopped what they were doing and started for the exits. Alex followed the crowd into the courtyard where he saw a mass of students and staff beginning to line the road that lead up to the main building of the academy.

"That must be the Princess of Tristain that Louise was talking about." Alex thought aloud now standing next to Siesta who was looking onward to the gate.

Siesta spoke with great admiration, "Um-hum. Princess Henrietta, heir to the royal throne."

Then the trumpets sounded once more and within a moment of the noise there can into view a group of six fully armored knights riding ahead of two carriages that each had two more knights on either side of them. That was then followed by a multitude of guards and servants carrying wagons of cloths, foods, and other goods and luxuries that one of royalty might expect while traveling. As the party passed the students and servants all bowed their heads in respect save Alex. The foremost carriage was drawn by a single brown haired stallion, the carriage itself was plain black and held a simple box shape. Alex assumed that the plain black carriage most likely was carrying advisers and other high ranking officials that had followed the princess on her travels. The black carriage was not what the crowd was interested in though, it was the one that preceded it.

The carriage that undoubtedly belonged to the Princess was white with purple wooden flowers that decorated the exterior body of the transport. Intricate gold accents surround the edges of the top and bottom of the body of the carriage along with the frame of the single door and large window on the sides that had thin pink curtains drawn to obscure the view of the passengers inside only showing a thin shadow of the outline of the inhabitants. The body was being drawn by four white stallions that were decorated in intricate armor that looked like it was more for aesthetic reasons than for the purpose of protection.

As the convoy came to a stop the Royal Guard dismounted and assumed a formation around the white carriage as a servant came and opened the door lending a hand to the Princess in question.

The Princess was a fair as anyone that Alex had ever seen before. She had short dark purple hair that stayed just above her shoulders and was decorated by a silver tiara with three clear aqua gem. Stepping taking the hand of her servant she stepped down letting the purple cloak that was held together in the middle by a silver brooch that had a gem that matched the ones on her tiara. Below her cloak she was dressed in a long white dress that had three more gems on the collar that ended just above her ankles.

Walking up to meet the teachers and headmaster who were now all kneeling in respect she was followed by her guards who all kept their hands on their golden swords as they marched in sync, their red cloaks flowing behind them as they marched.

Lifting her hand those who had been kneeling all rose and began to talk to the headmaster. As the teacher retreated to the side the headmaster began to address the princess. Laughing the princess and her guards began to follow the Headmaster to the main hall of the academy speaking as they walked.

As the remaining guards and servants followed behind the students started to disperse, most of them avoided Alex as they noticed him, giving him glances of worry, anger, disgust, or a mixture of those emotions.

Seeing that Siesta had gone to help the Princess's servants move her supplies into the hall, as was expected of her.

Alex sighed now alone again before turning to find Louise to get ready for the Evolution Fair that would start within the the next hour.

* * *

Alex was standing in the tent and had just finished watching Tabitha and her blue dragon fly out around the sky and complete impressive maneuvers. Alex was the next up to the stage, and he didn't plan to follow any of the request, well more like demands, that she had made of him. He wouldn't be offering a show to the crowd of people.

He and Derf had talked at length the day before on about the events of the upcoming day. He and his partner had decided to use the audience as a stage not to show off to the students, but to make it perfectly clear that he wasn't a familiar and wouldn't tolerated being called or treated as such, whether they accepted it or not didn't matter to him, he was only interested in making a point.

"... and whatever you do, for the founders sake don't embarrass me." Louise said as she finally ended her mini rant that she had been on ever since Colbert had informed her that her familiar would be up soon.

"Are you done now?" Alex said with a bored expression.

Getting frustrated at her familiars lack of respect Louise let out a loud huff and crossing her arms, "Just don't go and catch anything on fire."

Alex ignored the comment and heard Colbert announce him, "And for our showing of the evening we have the summons of Louise de La Vallière!" Colbert's enthusiastic announcement was meet with utter silence. Walking up the stair of the stage Alex turned to face the crowd and was no sooner meet by a blast of wind magic than he turned to face the audience, and this was meet by a mixture of gasps and applauds from the student body.

Falling hard to the floor Alex was able to look up just in time to see a group of three male and two female students dressed in purple cloaks indicating that they were third years. The guards of the princess leap to action in defense of her highness and began to remove her from the immediate area despite her apparent reluctance.

As soon as Alex attempted to stand another gust of wind knocked him back to the floor. The laughter and cheers from the majority of the crowd began to dig into Alex's mind as the five students original students were now being joined by a few more.

Alex could feel the attacks becoming more violent as time when on, some began to turn to sharp slacks instead of blunt walls of wind. The back of his leather armor began to rip opening wounds on his back that began to seep blood forth.

Alex started to have vivid memories of his past, the pain the fear, the loss, all because of who he was, what he was. Alex was hearing names being yelled at him, and laughter rising from some of the third years who were taking part in the abuse. Over the crowd Alex faintly could hear Colbert, Louise, and a few others including Guiche attempting to stop the attacks but the mob mentality had already moved into full swing.

Alex heard Derf attempt to come out of his sheath to assist only for the wind to pin him back inside. Couldn't stand any of it anymore as the pain was now replaced by pure rage, rage at the students, rage at those who treated the Nonames like trash, rage at the very world itself.

Alex let is slip as he allowed the golden glow to envelop him before standing even as the blasts hit him. Alex raised his hand and instantly the magic wind around him was dispersed and replaced with a gust of his own that knocked everyone in the crowed to their knees.

"ENOUGH!" Alex bellowed as everyone went dead silent and where now all staring directly at him. The Royal Guard looked as panicked and now had all of their swords drawn pairing for the worst.

Pulling out Derf Alex pointed it at the students and allowed both the powers of his Code and Rune to flow through his veins. "I am Alexander Shadowheart, Seventh Star of my God Ortainal and Keeper of the Code of Light, and the holder of the rune of Gandálfr, I will not be make a disgraced of my Lord by being both the laughing stock and punching back of a bunch of spoiled brats!" As Alex spoke the very air seemed to become heavy pressing down on everyone and everything.

If the students were shocked by the shear implications of what Alexander was saying. If he was the Left Hand of God then they would all need to plead for forgiveness for what would be seen as a very assault on God himself, but on the other hand he claimed this Ortainal as his God, the conflicting ideologies were mind numbing.

Walking forward Alex held Derf at his side looking at the crowd he saw a mixture of fear and of aw. "If any dispute my claims step forward!" his voice thundered as he spoke, Alex himself could feel that his words while coming from him didn't quite seem his own, however he was content with the implications of them.

No one spoke a word, Louise looked like she was going to be sick as the color had all but left her face, even Tabitha who normally showed no emotion looked uneasy.

Reaching back Alex sheathed Derf, "Then we have an understanding." and with that Alex walked off toward the student dorm, leaving the students locked in a state of shock letting his power slip back inside Alex was just able to see his reflection in the window of the princesses carriage as he walked by it. In his reelection he now saw that half his hair was pure white, and now both his eyes were pure gold.

* * *

 **Well that took a while. I know, I know, what happened to the stone giant and Longueville... Well I decided to change that she has stolen the time on before hand by tricking the Headmaster, which isn't too far fetched.**

 **I really can't think of much more to say. Don't forget to review, favorite, and fallow, I would be grateful if you would do so.**

 **Aaron out!**


	9. Chapter IX: Thief

**Well here we go again, another week another chapter. I think I will get out every update either late Sunday night or early to mid Monday. But anyway this on felt like it took forever, and was really hard to get into at time. Any who, onto reviews!**

xXgabeXx- Wait, WHAT?! I thought that this was a character form some book! Wow... You could make some serious cash if you publish a story on the whole Alex thing

 **Thank! I'll have to think about that, but for now I need to finish flushing out the world. You shouldn't write about something you yourself don't fully understand.**

 **That's it for review, on to the chapter!**

* * *

 _ **IX. Thief**_

Alex once again found himself thrust back into a vision as he had come to see them as the moment he had drifted off into unconsciousness.

The scene that he was seeing unfold was unsettling to say the least.

Rain was coming down in buckets as lightning streaked above the sky giving flashes of light that lit the ground of but a brief moment before being preceded by the defining clap of thunder. Alex was glad that he wasn't physically present otherwise he would have been drenched by the downpour the second he arrived.

Alex now adjusted to his surroundings was able to see that he was in what must have been Oldtown in the distant past. He was standing in an alley that was formed from three large wooden buildings and a few of the more stable stone buildings that were comprised of the rubble of Old Corvans.

Hearing a splash of water Alex was able to turn around just in time to see that Hara was now laying in a massive puddle of mud that was the the consequence of the current downpour. Hara looked as though she had grown a bit, Alex felt odd not having an accurate sense of how much time had passed since his first vision of her, but he guessed that it had to have been at least a year, if not two.

Sampling backwards Hara pushed herself up against the wall of the stone building panic in her eyes as she looked to at threat that Alex couldn't see in the Alley that connected to the one Alex stood in.

Alex took a step forward instinctively thinking of how to help her, but quickly reminded himself that he was viewing the past, or at least what he assumed to be the past, and had no power over what had already happened. Helpless to effect whatever may happen Alex simply clenched his jaw and watched.

Hara quickly shook her head and began to attempt to rise frankly. Alex heard it before he saw it, the unmistakable thwack of a arrow being let loose. An instant latter Hara who was only halfway to her feet had a arrow rip into her right calf causing her to yell out in pain instantly collapsing to her side in the mud. Alex could now feel anxiety begin to build, he wanted to help but was powerless to do so. It felt like torture.

Out of the shadows there came two men draped in dark dark black cloaks with their hoods dawn obscuring their faces from both the rain and from view. The man farthest away from Hara was holding a polished longbow and he had already knocked another arrow ready to be drawn if needed. The man who was closest to her held a simple steel short sword in his right hand as the two slowly approached her.

Seeing the men approaching Hara started her attempt to flee as she was now crawling desperately to get away. Alex could see that her leg was bleeding profusely as she left a trail as she attempted to flee.

A moment later the man holding the sword made his way to the girl. Upon his arrival to her side he pulled back his foot and placed a hard kick into her side causing her to fall flat letting out a yelp before another kick hit the side of her face. Then the second man quickly ran up and stomped on her back with his full weight.

Watching the beating take place Alex was having vivid memories of when he nearly been beaten to death, and he would have been if Kellinar hadn't found him that day, but there was no one in site to help this girl. Alex felt sick as he watched helplessly as the onslaught continued.

Then Alex felt it, the rush of the power of his Code. The glow engulfed him as it had many times before. Looking up he saw that the same glow that he held was surrounding the girl. Her normal long Auburn hair had turned into a glowing white and as she opened her eyes they shone with a deep glowing gold.

Seeing the change in the girl the two men quickly stammered back in surprise. Quickly the archer drew his bow and fired only for Hara to rise quickly and push his bow to the side causing the arrow to fly in Alex's direction causing him to flinch before it harmlessly passed through him.

The second man quickly moved in raising his sword before attempting to bring the blade to bare with the head of the girl. But instead of making contact with its intended target it was stopped, now floating just inches above Hara's now outstretched hand. The man tensed as he attempted to push through the Earth magic that was manipulation the metal of his sword. Looking to her side into the man's eyes Hara pushed her hand causing both the sword and the man to go flying backwards and onto the ground hard.

The first man quickly attempted to reach and took hold of his bow with both hands and pushed Hara back to the wall. Hara quickly reached down and pulled the arrow that was lodged into her right calf though with a quick grunt before brandishing is in her right hand the point facing down before charging the man in front of her.

The man had just enough time to knock another arrow and raise his head for a target before he let out his last gasp of air with a shocked look on his face as Hara impaled his own arrow into his exposed neck. The man let out on blood filled cough before falling to the side lifelessly causing a large slash as his motionless body hit the mud below.

Breathing heavy now Hara quickly turned to the warcry of the second man as he yelled out in rage at the death of his partner. Raising her hand Hara turned the very rain that was falling into a weapon. Quickly the rains turned to sharp shards of ice that fell with blinding speed to meet the man who didn't even had time to react to what was happening. The second a shards would hit the man they pierced through his cloak as hundreds of them meet their target killing the man almost instantly.

After a moment the glow faded from both Hara and Alex, he saw that she now had a distinct white strand of hair running down the her back what clashed against her natural Auburn.

Soon after that the image started to fade leaving Alex with the barely visible image of Hara falling to the ground holding her now badly bleeding calf.

* * *

Alex woke with a start and wasn't quite sure where he was for a moment before remembering that he had elected to spend the night atop the roof of one of the towers that encircled the school.

Grabbing his things he quickly strapped back on his armaments before giving Derfs sheath a kick before swinging him over his shoulder.

"W-What? Oh it's just you." Derf said grumpily before letting out a yawn. Alex was still at a loss for why a sword would need so much rest, but then again he could see the appeal opposed to sitting quietly on someone's back all day long.

"Well good morning to you to." Alex laughed as he started made his way for the stairs. He had picked all the locks to the various doors that had originally barred his entry to the top of the tower, and was relieved that they had yet to be relocked.

"So things didn't go as smoothly as planned yesterday… but at least we got the message out right partner?"

"I would hope so, I'm tired of dealing with these people superiority complexes."

"I'm with you one-hundred percent partner!"

Alex then made his way to toward the kitchen to grab some much needed food. Walking he kept bringing his mind back to the vision that he had seen that night, which made him wonder if that was what happened to him every time he tapped into the larger part of his powers.

Upon his arrival to the kitchen Alex found himself bombarded by the staff with question about his powers, who Ortainal was, The Seventh Star, and most of all his claims of being the Right Hand of Brimir. Alex was sure that his head would have exploded from overload if it hadn't been for Marteau handing Alex a plate and telling him to run while he attempted to hold back the flood of questions from the staff, something Alex was more than willing a obliged.

Alex ate as he walked across the lawn toward the where he had come to learn was the library was located.

Alex had distinctly remembered that Tabitha had ordered him to meet her there the day after the Evolution Fair to resume his lessons. Signing as he walked Alex hoped that the offer to teach him how to read was still open to him after the events of the other day.

Walking through the halls Alex could see that the looks of hate and disgust that he had gotten from students in the past were now replaced by a mixture of awe, respect, and a little hint of fear. Alex scoffed at how quickly the attitude toward him had changed since the affairs of the previous day.

After wandering the halls for a while Alex eventually found his way to his destination. The huge wooden doors to the Library where already propped open for the day when he arrived. Walking in Alex was impressed by the size of the area was massive.

The massive room had four rows of tables with groups of students spread out reading among them. Behind that Alex saw the massive maze of book shelves. Alex imaged that nearly anything that he wanted to know about his world he could find, and he imaged it would take a person a lifetime to read even a small fraction of the materials he gazed upon.

Putting aside the wealth of knowledge that this room held Alex started to scan the group of students for the distinct blue hair of Tabitha still holding out that she wouldn't abandon teaching him the written language of Halkeginia.

After a short moment Alex saw the blue haired mage sitting alone far away from the groups of students who were predominantly occupying the right side of the room. Walking up Alex noted that Tabitha was now reading a different book than the one he had first seen her with when he meet her on the roof, two night prior.

Alex quietly took his seat keeping an eye on her as she read. Without even looking up Tabitha had noticed him. Not taking her eyes off her book for a moment she reached to the chair next to her and pushed a book across the table, "Practice." she ordered bluntly as he sat.

Alex couldn't help but chuckle as he picked up the book and began to attempt to form the words in his head, "Aloud." Tabita scolded him.

* * *

By the time Alex and Tabitha had finished it was starting to draw close to noon. Alex had once again surprised himself at the speed at which he was picking up language. Now instead of a basic memorization of the alphabet and the sounds that each letter correlated with he had begun to find that he could read basic sentences with only the slightest corrections from Tabitha.

Alex soon saw a figure moving toward the two of them from the corner of his. Looking up Alex saw the teacher who he had seen both upon arrive to Halkeginia and the evening before announcing familiars at the Evolution fair. The man quickly navigated his way through the various desks and chairs before arriving to where both Alex and Tabitha were seated.

"Miss Tabitha the headmaster wishes a word with both you and Gandálfr on important matters." The man sounded obviously distressed over something though Alex couldn't put his finger on what it would be.

Nodding Tabitha closed her book and retrieved her staff and began to head toward the exit. Rising Alex followed closely behind.

* * *

Louise had been in class when Colbert had informed her that she and the Zerbst had been requested to make an audience with the headmaster. Louise could never stand the women, not just because of the feud between their families, but also because she found that she was generally just a ass when she interacted with her. Now walking neither spoke to one another, the two having a silent agreement to avoid conversation, for the time being.

Arriving in the room Louise surprised to see that both Tabitha and Alex were already there. "Ah, Miss Vallière, Miss Zerbst, welcome." Headmaster Osmond greated less cheerfully than normal, and he was always happy to see Kriche.

Stepping into the room Louise was trying to get an idea of what the old man had called them here for, then she jumped at the first idea that came to her mind. "Headmaster if this is about yesterday-"

"This has nothing to do with the affairs of Gandálfr." Osmond cut her off abruptly.

Alex flinched at the title, "Please, call me as Alex or Lord Seventh if you wish to be formal." he stated firmly.

Osmond hesitated for a moment before continuing. "A-As I was about to say, I have a delicate matter that I need attended to."

Kirche frowned. "I can get why you would request for me and Tabitha, but why the Zero?"

Louise gritted her teeth at the comment only holding back because of the presence of the headmaster. "She is here because he is here." Osmond motioned to Alex.

Kirche scoffed at the Louise before turning her back. "Fine, I guess that's a fair trade off." She said now blowing a kiss to Alex who ignored her completely.

"What's this task that you need?" Alex interjected.

"Well it's quite serious, an ancient weapon that was stored here on the grounds has recently went missing from the vault." Osmond stated bluntly.

"By missing you mean that it was stolen?" Alex sighed. "Well what leads do you have on its whereabouts?"

Stepping forward Louise noticed Osmonds assistant for the first time. "I believe this is where I come in." She smiled politely to the group.

"Ah yes, my assistant Miss Longueville will accompany you, she apparently saw the thief fleeing the grounds and was able to use a spell of tracking to follow their path for a a short time." Osmond stepped back and took a seat at his desk. "I leave them to you Miss Longueville."

* * *

Sitting in the open carriage that had been provided Alex looked out into the trees as they made their way to the last know location of the thief at least according to Longueville.

He had wondered the whole time about what it would be. He could hear Kirche and Tabitha disgusting about Kirche's lovelife, though it was mainly just Kirche speaking while Tabitha lessened. He could swear that that women loved the sound of her own voice more than anything.

"Hey." Turning back he saw that it had been Louise who had spoken to him. "What was all that stuff yesterday?" she asked quietly.

"Why would you care?" Alex retorted.

"Well you're farmil-" She started but stopped when she saw the glare that she received. "Well I don't fully understand what it all meant, I mean I know all about Gandálfr but nothing about the other stuff you mentioned."

Alex sighed, "My people are beholden to the Lord of Dertain, Ortainal, our God." Louise flinched at the mention of his God. Ignoring her he when on, "Long ago Ortainal granted all men with the gift of the five Codes, but gave one person the power of the Code of Light to only one."

"The Codes?" Louise questioned.

"They give tie the people of the world to Ortainal. However those who are gifted as Keepers have the ability to use magic, not unlike your system of nobility."

"I think I can understand a bit, but what is this Code of Light?"

"That is the symbol of the Star of Ortainal, I am the Seventh holder of the honor, there have been Six before me, though not much is known of the first two." Alex explained.

Louise nodded and looked away a little depressed, "Well your family must have been extremely proud of you."

Alex flinched and looked back to the woods, "I never knew them, nor do I ever want to."

Louise looked back and saw the pain flash on his face for a moment before it was quickly masked. She instantly felt bad for even mentioning his parents when she knew nearly nothing about him, and that fact made her feel even worse.

A short while after that they came to a stop.

"This is where the spell faded." Longueville hoped from the carriage and started on foot.

Joining her the rest of the group caught up to her. Looking on Alex could faintly see a old worn down building in the distance.

Reaching back Alex drew Derf and held him at his side as the rune gave him its power. Holding his hand up as the group was now only a short distance from the structure. "Hold here, I'm going to check it out."

Walking forward in a crouched position until he was up against the side of structure. Rising up just a bit Alex looked into the shack through a shattered window. Looking inside he saw that it was completely abandoned save a few old ruined pieces of furniture.

Rising to stand Alex gave the rest of the group the all clear before strolling around the shack. Walking Alex took out his throwing knives and placed them on the ground around the shake, which got a odd look from the rest of the group who didn't question think to question it.

While Alex placed down his knives Tabitha quickly went to work looking for any magical traps that may have been placed on the building only to find none. "The building is clear." She announced before pushing open the door and stepping in soon followed by Kirche and Alex who apparently had finished whatever he had been doing.

Looking spreading out the group started to search the shake for the weapon that Osmond had been talking about.

Turning back Alex noticed that Louise who had finally joined them wasn't accompanied by their guide. "What happened to Longueville?"

"She said she was going to patrol the area while we searched the building." Louise replied as she walked over to a old dresser and started searching drawers.

Alex had felt uneasy about Longueville but put it aside for the moment to search the area. After a while the group had been unable to find anything of substance inside the building. As the group moved to exit Louise took a step on a loose floorboard that creaked under even her light weight.

Alex immediately turned to the sound and was now staring at Louise's feet. "W-What?!" she replied self consciously.

Gently pushing her to the side Alex reached down and grabbed onto the board and pulled it up with ease. Hidden underneath was a brown sake.

"This must be what the weapon that Osmond was on about." Alex thought aloud as he reached down and hefted up the sack to find that whatever was inside had some weight to it, not only that but he could feel something more, a connection maybe. Reaching up Alex grabbed the end of the sack pulling off the twine that held it shut and reaching up pulling it back.

Looking down Alex was surprised to see a sword bound in a black leather sheath. The Handle of the weapon was made of a dark black metal that Alex had never before seen. The handle itself was wrapped tightly with black leather, though part of the handle was bear at the bottom as decorative angles had been put into that part of the medal. At the bottom of the Handle there was the pommel, which held a single golden tinted uncut gem which was surrounded a white metal that looked like a flame engulfed the gem as it held the stone into place. On the other side was the cross guard of the blade. The guard was held the same white medal of the pommel as it slightly curved toward the blade and held an intricate design that had masterfully edged into the weapon.

Looking down the blade seemed to be calling to him, like it wanted him to wield it. Reaching down Alex gripped his right hand against the leather handle and instantly felt power run through him, but it wasn't just the powers of Gandálfr, but he could feel the power of his Code fill Alex drew the blade to reveal it's pure white shine, and in his hand it seemed to give off a faint glow. The Blade itself had a cutaway just above the ground before the fuller of the blade began. Inside the fuller there was the same ancient writing of Dertain that he had first witnessed at the entrance to Herailhall, which he had long since learned to read.

"These are the ancient names for the Five Codes." Alex said in amazement "This sword is of my world!" Just as he finished speaking there came a massive crash as the roof of the building they were in was completely ripped off.

Turing the whole group came face to face with a massive stone golem. Quickly Tabita let out an assault of wind magic which Kirche closely followed up with a blast of fire. As the smoke cleared Alex saw that the golem hadn't sustained the slightest bit of damage. Tabitha then raised her hand to her mouth and let out a high pitched whistle.

Assessing the situation Alex griped the sword from his world even tighter before taking off at an unimaginable toward the golem. Seeing his advance the creature raised its foot and slammed it down causing a massive shock wave to erupt around the impact area. Alex saw this coming though and rolled out of the wave, and the second the golems massive foot landed he reached back and drew Derf and used both of his swords in unison to slice the leg in two.

The golem let out what sounded like a massive groan, but after the dismembered leg simply regenerated from the rubble of its dismembered one.

Jumping back Alex retreated from the monster only for it to quickly bring its massive fist down toward the shack which still held Louise and company.

Alex quickly raised his hands and felt the his new sword guide him further into his powers as the glow of the Star of Ortainal engulfed him and filled him with power.

Alex quickly reached out and manipulated the earth that made up the golem and forced the golem's hand to quick standstill. Alex immediately felt the weight of the task of holding back the beast as it fought him continuously for power over its own body.

"Get the fuck out of there!" Alex yelled out straining to hold the weight as he felt it start to slip.

The group followed his commands and quickly ran into the clearing beside him gasping for air from the short sprint.

Letting out a sigh Alex let the weight go allowing the golem's fist to crash into the already unstable building causing what was left of the structure to implode from the force of the hit.

The golem then turned back to the party and started to move forward, however it didn't travel far as a blue blur slammed into the monster before circling around and quickly landing next to Tabitha.

Quickly the three students got onto the dragon and looked over at Alex who was standing his ground. "Take to the air and provide Air support!"he ordered before gripping his weapons

Rodding Tabitha patted her familiar as it took flight Alex turned his attention back to the task at hand. Alex saw that Kirche and Tabitha were launching attacks from the back of her dragon but they seemed to be nothing more than a distraction.

Running in Alex lifted his blades and running in between the golem's legs he lifted his blades and quickly took his swords to bare this time removing both the monster legs. Jumping out of the way Alex had time to look up and see that the golem was now mostly rubble but was still attempting to reform itself. stabbing both his new sword and derf into the ground Alex extended his hands and focused all his power on the earth that the golem was made of and began to send the parts flying into separate directions until he saw what looked like the core of the creature.

Reaching back Alex pulled out the knife that Kellinar had given him and launched it as quickly as he could, impaling it into the core. This caused a shock wave to erupt sending stones in every direction, and Alex turned and to shield himself from the rubble.

Signing Alex quickly felt a wave of exhaustion engulf him as the glow quickly left him. Allowing himself to fall to a knee he took a multitude of deep breaths before looking up and seeing Longeville looking down at him.

"H-How unfortunate, I had hoped that my golem would have taken you and rest of your friends out of my hair." waving her hand a group of ten men carrying drawn bows came out of the clearing aiming at Alex.

Signing Alex reached for Derf and the stolen sword before he heard a arrow launch. quickly rolling to his right he avoided the first shot and was able to grab Derf who he had planted on that side. Looking to his right he saw a second arrow launching and was able to quickly raise his weapon and cut the projectile in half before looking up and seeing Longeville standing over the stolen artifact.

Holding up her hand allowing the men relaxed a bit, "I'm impressed that you can still go on after that display."

"Well I don't go down easy?" Alex said as he started to try and once again tap into his power. "It's obvious you're behind the theft of that weapon, so why?"

"Well seeing as how you'll be dead soon, I see no harm in it." She said with a chuckle, "My true name is Fouquet, I am a world class thief."

"So you infiltrated the school for that weapon?" Alex asked.

"It is very valuable to a particular customer of mine. And now if you wouldn't mind." She said as she rose her hand causing Alex to dig deeper as he started to feel his power return.

Just as the men started to draw back their bow Alex and the rest of the people on the ground saw a shadow pass by, looking back up Alex saw Louise falling to the ground in a controlled descent with the aid of magic.

"Alex!" She yelled as he landed "Stay behind me." She ordered.

"You dumb ass Alex yelled as the arrows started to fly. Instantly he saw the regret and fear flash over her face as she closed her eyes in anticipation for the impact, and possibly death

Raising his hand Alex reached out and grabbed ahold of the knives that he had scattered around the area and used his Code to manipulate them to his need. Sending the weapons out at a blinding speed he had then first cut down the volley of arrows before commanding the medal weapons to lodge themselves into the exposed necks on the archers.

Quickly Alex looked up and saw that Longeville, or Fouquet had begun to escape with the sword in hand. Alex attempted to once again launch one of the knives that was lodged in the neck of one a nearby assailant only for this limit to hit him, hard.

Falling forward Alex looked up and saw that Louise was holding him as he felt his consciousness slip until he saw nothing but black.

* * *

Alex soon awoke to seeing that he was once again back in Louise's room, it was midday, and he guessed that it was a different day seeing as how it looked earlier than it had been when he had passed out.

"You're awake." Alex looked over to see Louise sitting in a chair that had been by the bed.

"Yeah," Alex stretched as he sat up in the bed, "what happened?"

"After you defended me Longeville escaped with that sword, after that you passed out and Tabitha flew us back to the academy. You slept for a whole day."

"Escaped…" Alex couldn't help but have his mind drift to the sword, he felt like he had seen or heard of it somewhere but he couldn't recall. Either way it was weighing on his mind.

Also…" Louise looked at the ground and became red in the face, "I want to thank you for saving me yesterday."

Alex smiled, "Well if you used that head of your's you wouldn't get yourself into those kinds of messes." he teased as he got a nasty look back from Louise. "But I wouldn't let those I care about get hurt."

Rising Alex strapped on his sword and said a goodbye and left the room, leaving Louise with a slight smile on her red face.

* * *

Alex now stood alone with the headmaster in his office. Alex had already had a debriefing of the events leading up to Longueville's escape.

"Well it's unfortunate that she got away, but atleast we have a place to start our search." Alex replied after Osmond had finished talking.

"Quite." Taking a seat the master seemed to perk up, "Oh I forgot, we have made a few arrangements for you while you stay here Gr- I mean Alex. Colbert will show you to your new living quarters." Alex then nodded and turned to leave. "Oh and one last thing there is a formal dance this evening, if you are interested in attending."

Alex gave one last nod before leaving with Colbert for his new quarters.

* * *

Standing on the balcony of the ballroom Alex had decided to enjoy a spell of fresh air instead of putting up with the massive group of students who were all either avoiding him or trying to ask him stupid questions about being Gandálfr all of which he didn't think he had the patience to last the night through, he had even left his armor in favor of formal wear.

Sighing Alex had decided to leave but turned around to find Louise standing there. She had put her hair back into a ponytail that was pinned back by a gold tiara that Alex thought looked good on her. She was wearing a white and pink strapless dress and had a gold necklace with three blue gems on her neck, and wear pearl earrings.

Then Alex heard the chorus begin to play as students quickly paired up with partners and started to dance. "You should go and enjoy yourself." Alex said flatly as he started forward only for Louise to offer out her hand.

"If you would be so kind." She said with a smile, "I wanted to pay you back somehow."

Alex smiled and took her hand, "Well I wouldn't want to be rude." And with that they walked out on the floor together.

* * *

 **And another one in the books. I know that Louise is a little out of character here, and I will keep it like that in a lot of places. IMO she was way to tsundere, to the point of being annoying, so I'm pulling back on that.**

 **The sword and Longueville will be back into play next chapter, duel wielding is bad ass. Next chapter should be fun, I have some fun plans in store!**

 **Anyway don't forget to drop a review, Fav, or Fallow if you feel like it!**

 **Aaron Out!**


	10. Chapter X: Back in the Shadows

**Well there we are. I got this one out a little early, this just means that I have more time to work on more content!**

 **Few things before I get to reviews. I have added a new chapter for both the table of contents and as a place for PROJECTED release dates along with news feed on the story. If you want to know when I think a new chapter will come out go there! I will try and update it as often as possible. Also I've decided that I want to expand the story! So I will now be looking into anyone who want's to help Co-Write parts of the** **story along with anyone who would be interested in helping edit. All credit for word will be provided.**

 **Now, on to reviews!**

Alphay1- Well, this is a nice story with an oc that comes from a completely original background. Stuff like this doesn't appear all that often. I only have one problem however, as Alex seems to be steadily heading into the Gary Stu territory. It's nothing bad yet, but you might want to tone down on the things he is getting. Color changing eyes/hair, dual wielding, and magic all within 9 chapters? Be careful.

 **Lot to break down here. First, thanks. I worked hard to come up with Alexander's background as it will play a huge role in the story latter on. I can get the Mary/Gary Stu angle though I want to put your mind at ease, he's not as OP as you think. Most battle trained mages at this point like the likes of Wardes would wipe the floor with him. The Hair Color is more a cosmetic change than anything, but it will slow down in it's advance. His magic is also hard to tap into unless he's in grave danger, but I will keep a eye on his progression keeping this in mind.**

Shadowflame013- Liking the story so far. Waiting for the next chapter to come.

 **Thanks for the support! Here it is, though your going to have to wait until about the 15th for chapter XI due to me taking that week to edit and rewrite parts of previous chapters.**

m- You could have thrown derf! controlled the spin and then since derf naturally cuts through spells, it would embed in the earth that our misguided thief likes to use to escape...

and like he didn't see it comming...

 **Dang, missed a situational comedic moment there for sure. But not much I can do now. The only issue is that I haven't had Derf tell Alex that he can cut though magic, I'm saving that for a latter situation, but It would have been great to use there. You know what... let me know in the reviews if I should edit this into the battle over the editorial week and I'll see what I can do.**

 **Well that's all for the reviews! Happy to announce be hit 11 Favs ,10 Fallows and over 2K views! You guys are the best!**

 **Sorry for that long opening, lots to talk about. Now on to the chapter!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter X. Back in the Shadows**_

Reading had become tolerable now that he had been at it for a good couple weeks. Alex was now sitting in class with Louise as Colbert went over a review brief review of fire magic. Tabitha had told him a few days back that she couldn't teach him much more, and that the best way to learn at this point would be to just read on his own. The shocking pace that he had learned the language had come quite in handy as he could now read at an acceptable level, though he still wanted to fully understand the language.

Looking up he noticed that Louise was once again sitting in her secluded spot in the back of the room. Alex would occasionally sit with her, but had normally elected to sit alone as to avoid from distracting her from lesions, that she desperately needed.

Alex had recently become enamored with the way that these people used magic, he had noticed that certain people favorited specific magic types but not all, while others could use more than one. Alex was still perplexed by the idea of needing a medium in which to access magic, the use of these 'wands' and staffs where a foreign concept to him.

The one thing that he had undeniably noticed though is that the Magic powers of those he had faced thus far in this world where child's play in comparison with the power of the upper echelon of the Keepers in his world.

While he had killed a knight before his arrival in this world, he had only been a knight for political reasons and hadn't really earned the title for his ability. While Sir Davis Bryor had indeed held the Code of Death, he hadn't ever seen any real combat, though he could have killed the average foot soldier in an instant.

Alex knew that if he was to ever face someone who was of an elite class Keeper that the battle would be over before Alex had a chance to access his power. Even now he had only fought a student, a thief, and a perverted Count and each time had nearly died in the process. He wasn't even close to what the tales of the Stars of Ortainal had described, and he feared that he wouldn't be able to match up with the tales of his predecessors.

Alex who had been lost in thought soon became aware of his surroundings as everyone in the looked over as Guiche who had been absent for the start of class walked in.

"I apologize Mr. Colbert, but Verdandi wouldn't calm down after one of the first years walked by with a gold necklace on." Guchie explained to Colbert.

"I will let it slide for today Mr. Gramont. Now take a seat." Colbert instructed before returning to his lesson.

Guchie quickly looked scanned the room only to find an open seat next to Alex that he quickly took. Setting out his quill and paper Guiche started to take notes from the lesson that was still unfolding.

"What's with your mole?" Alex inquired of Guiche.

"You mean my Verdandi? Well he's obsessed with anything that has gem, silver, gold, you name it attached to it."

"That must be annoying with the number of nobles here." Alex scoffed.

"Quite." Guiche responded returning back to his notes.

Hearing the door fling open once more Alex looked up to see one of the female teachers standing in the door frame holding a parchment in her hand.

"Miss. Vallière, the headmaster has requested your presence." She announced.

Shutting his book Alex rose and placed it into the leather satchel that he had requested while he stayed on grounds and followed Louise as she left the room.

* * *

Osmonds office hadn't changed much in the last week outside of the now vacant desk that once belonged to Longeville, or Fouquet as she had called herself.

Alex stood a few feet behind Louise as she waited Osmond to finish whatever conversation that he was in the middle of having with his pet mouse.

Giving a last whisper to his familiar Osmond set down his little friend who quickly scurried away.

"My apologies for the delay, Chuchu was just passing on… important information." Osmond said pulling out his pipe before lighting it.

"You requested my presence headmaster?" Louise inquired.

"Yes, I have news from the palace directly from the Princess for you."

"Princess Henrietta sent a message for me?" Louise sounded slightly surprised.

Picking up a parchment Osmond began to read it aloud, "On the behest of her highness, Princess Henrietta De Tristain, Françoise le Blanc de La Vallière is hereby granted the title of... chevalier." Osmond held the paper up to the light for a moment and shook his head before going on. "She is also tasked with a mission of most utmost importance. While in disguise as a commoner look find the opinion of the commoners in the capital of her highness, while simultaneously investigating the corruption of government officials. So decrees her highness."

Louise was dumbfounded. Not only was she given the title of chevalier but also a mission by the Princess.

"I will carry out these duties to my fullest extent headmaster!" Louise said bowing low.

"Yes, yes. No need to bow to me."

"Sorry headmaster." She blushed in embarrassment rising.

"You will leave later this evening for the capital, there you will be given a allowance in order to pose as a commoner, form there you will carry out your mission as instructed." Osmond drawered the parchment and set down his pipe. "That will be all Miss." Bowing once more Louise turned and left the headmaster's office and was soon followed by Alex.

"Well that was intriguing, what would you have done to be granted a title?" Alex pondered aloud, to which Louise shoot him a distasteful glance.

"I'm Vallière, my family are close with the royal palace. I and the Princess are what you could call childhood friends." Louise explained.

"Well that may explain a bit."

"We shall leave as soon as possible, I mustn't disappoint her highness."

"I won't be going." Alex said flatly, causing Louise to stop and turn on him in.

"What do you mean you're not going?!" She looked hysterical at the notion.

"This is a mission for you, they won't be any danger. I think you can handle yourself without me." Alex responded slightly defensively. "Besides I have other matter that need attention."

"Like what?" Louise snapped back.

"That thief Forquet, I intend to track her down." Louise went from anger right to confusion.

"But isn't she long gone?"

"She may have vanished, but I intend to pick up her track."

"But shouldn't…"

Alex quickly cut her off saying"You're not going to change my mind Louise." With that he turned and walked down the hall.

* * *

Walking into his new quarters Alex saw Derf quickly pop out of his sheath and greet him. "Hey partner, how's it going?"

"Fine Derf." Walking over Alex slung his magic friend over his back and started to prep his gear.

"We going somewhere?" Derf asked.

"To the capital. I have an idea of how to locate the location of our lost thief, and maybe that sword along with her."

"What's the plan then?"

"I believe that if we can find information on her though her partners in the slums of the city."

"Are you sure we can find what we need there?" Derf asked skeptically.

"Derf my friend, I grew up in the slums, I'm positive we can find something there." Alex stated before fastening his pouch and turned and left.

Opening the door Alex saw that Guiche, who was incidentally lived across from him, pulling a golden necklace away from his pet mole.

"Verdandi, you need to learn some self control!" Guiche scolded.

"I hear that animals take after their masters." Alex teased the mage.

"Funny." Guchie snapped back before being pulled forward by Verdandi who was still tugging the gold that was clenched within his jaws before getting the upper hand and pulling it away completely and then made a beeline for the exit.

Guiche didn't even try to give chase only sighing in defeat. "Well there goes another piece. He's been hiding them in some stash, probable a mountain of gold buried somewhere by him."

Alex just then had an idea, "How well do you know the capital?"

Guiche looked over a bit confused by the sudden question, "Uh, well enough I would say. Why?"

"While I've been there once, my stay was short. I need a guide around the city, specifically the slums." Alex explained leaning back on the wall behind him.

"And I would do such a thing because?"

"I can help you find that stash of gold that you're familiar keeps stealing. You can take the credit for it if you wish." Alex pointed out.

Guiche thought on this for a moment then saw this mole run by with more gems in his mouth now being chased by two girls. He signed "So when do we leave?"

* * *

"Are you sure that your Familiar will be fine without you?" Alex asked as he rode alongside Guiche.

"He'll be fine, I left him with Montremoncy." Guiche said dismissively. "So tell me more about yourself."

"What is there to tell?"

"If we are going to work together I think I should get to know you a little better, don't you think?" Guiche reasoned.

Alex gave a slight nod in reply. "My life isn't a happy one, but I'm not ashamed of it. I was born into the world a Noname. In my world, anyone with that title is hated for what they are, even among the lowest of the commoners. I wouldn't have be here today if it won't for my Master."

"Sounds rough." Guiche said sympathetic.

"You learn to live with it after a time. What about you?"

"I'm the fourth son of General Gramont. Being only a line mage my father hasn't very pleased with my progress, I'm not like my elder brothers. Though my issues sound petty in light of yours." Guiche said a little ashamed of the comparison.

Alex nodded. "I wasn't the best of my Order either when my Master first took me one. Even now there are those in the Order of Shadows that could best me in combat, even with the aid of the Code of Light."

"I won't pretend I know what half of that meant." Guiche laughed. "What is a Code to start with?"

Alex quickly remembered the divide in their worlds histories. "I'm my world people are born with one of five codes. Those who have a Code and can use magic are called the Brankar, or Keepers. Those born without Codes are Nonames, like I was."

"How did you get a Code if you had to be born with one?"

"To be honest, I'm the Seventh Star of Ortail, the God of my world. I'm not for sure, but I think I was given the Code by him."

"Your God?" Guchie stopped his horse, "You mean you don't worship the founder?!"

Alex pulled his rains and came to a halt, "No, though I'm supposedly the right hand of your founder. I come from another world, the vast difference in culture makes sense that there would be such a divide. I won't judge you for your blasphemy against Ortail so don't judge me for mine against your founder."

Guiche still looked disturbed but nodded and road on. After that the two didn't talk much until they saw that the capital was in site.

* * *

Stabling their horses the pair made their way through the city. Tristania wasn't the largest city Alex had even been in, and seemed even smaller the second time that he walked its streets. Following Guiche the two quickly made their way into the slums of the city.

Guchie had complained when the two had stopped to pick up a pair of black cloaks that covered the length of each of their bodies. Alex had already made sure that Guchie's school cloak had been left with the horses back in the stable.

Walking Alex saw that many of the buildings in this part of the city seemed to be ancient, and many of them in a state of disrepair. The streets where a mess, made of mostly dirt with small sections of cobblestone, most of which was cracked and did nothing more than add to the worn down state of the road.

"Well here we are, the slum of Tristania. Now what?" Guiche seemed uneasy as he kept his hand on his wand that was tucked firmly in in hand. Guiche was now secretly glad for the cloak, though he wouldn't tell Alex that.

"Now we find a fence, that should give us a idea of where to start." Alex looked over and he saw a small shop selling trinkets. "Hand me your wand."

"What? No." Guiche stepped back at the notion.

"We need some things 'stolen' to provide, otherwise we won't find who we are looking for." Alex pointed out.

"I get that, but I can be the one to show it to them, you don't need it on you!" Guiche retorted.

"Yes, but you don't know how these kind of transactions work, you're bound to muck things if you have the wand." Alex said now holding out his hand.

Guiche let out a long groan before reluctantly handing over his wand. "If you lose that, I swear I'll never let you live it down." Guiche threatened as Alex lead the two of them over to the shop.

"Don't say anything unless absolutely necessary, and if you need to keep it short." Alex ordered as they walked inside the store.

Looking around Guiche and Alex saw an assortment of goods lying around with various prices on them. The shop didn't seem to sell one particular item but there was a multitude of them lying about.

Approaching the back of the shop a older man came out from the back to great them. The man was dressed in a worn green vest with a brown undershirt. The man had quite the gut on him, and had thinning gray hair that didn't make him look very attractive with his chubby face that was covered in sweat. "Afternoon men. How many I be of service?" The man said, this voice a bit raspy.

"I have a item that you might be interested in purchasing, or at the very least might be able to point me in the right direction to sell." Alex said vaguely.

"Well let's have a look at it then." the man said plainly.

"I think it would be best discussed in private, for both parties." Alex discreetly flashed the wand to the man before concealing it once again.

The man quickly peered over the counter to see if anyone else was in the store. When he saw no one he walked from behind the counter and past both Guiche and Alex to his front door locking it and posting a sign to mark the store a temporarily closed.

Retiring the man waved his hand "Follow me to the back."

Leading the two back the man took a seat at his desk and Alex took a seat across from him as Guiche elected to remain standing. "Let's have a closer look now."

Alex pulled out Guiche's wand and sat it on the man's desk, who had already pulled out a looking glass. Picking it up the man started to examine the wooden wand closely.

"It's real I can assure." Alex stated only for the man to hold up his hand.

Setting down the glass he placed the wand back onto the table, "Well you've got a good catch. Now who is the owner of this particular… item."

"The fourth son of General Gramont." Alex said bluntly.

"Quite the catch then. I'm willing to buy it, what are you looking to get for it?" The man leaned forward.

"Information."

"What kind of information?" The man seemed hesitant, but intrigued at the same time.

"I need to find the location of a thief named Forquet. She has come across a sword that I'm very interested in obtaining."

"Forquet you say… No I can't talk with you about her." He said leaning back.

"Then I will find someone who will." Alex said picking up the wand as he stood.

"Wait wait wait." the man said quickly. Alex looked back at the man and retook his seat. "I can't tell you about Forquet, I would lose her business. However, I can tell you where your sword will end up."

"How do I know this information will be accurate?"

"I worked occasionally with the guys who moved it out for her, it's heading to a member of the Griffins Knights. One of their member's supposedly paid a large sum of the item, I don't know how, and I don't know why."

"Well this is an interesting turn of events." Alex then stood and headed for the door. "Thanks for the information."

"What about my wand?!" The man yelled at the two.

Alex quickly reached back and pointed Derf at the man's neck, "If I were you, I would forget about both us and the wand… wouldn't you agree?"

The man looking down as the sword nodded frantically, "Y-Yes."

Alex sheathed Derf and tossed Guiche back his wand before turning to leave.

"That went nicely." Guiche said as he rubbed the sweat from the man's hand that had rubbed onto his wand off on his cloak.

"Fill me in on these Griffins Knights." Alex said as the two started back for the stable, it now being twilight.

"They are the head of the royal air force. Their familiars are Griffins, making them masters of the sky. You don't want to mess with them." Guiche warned.

"I wasn't planning to fight them, only steal back the sword, my Order is widely known for theft though I was never the best with stealth." Alex admitted. "At any rate we won't learn anything more here, we should find a place for the night, and I know just the place…"

* * *

Walking up to the Charming Fairies Inn the sun had now long since hidden itself behind the edge of the world. Alex was relieved to see the familiar building but soon heard a great commotion. After a moment there was a large group of men dressed in red uniforms lead by an obese man in green with a red cloak leading a charge out of the establishment yelling as they ran.

Alex and Guiche both looked back at the men as they ran by, "What was that all about?" Guiche asked.

"I don't know, but I bet Jessica will have a pretty interesting story to tell when we get inside." Alex replied just as confused.

Quickening their pace the pair walked inside the inn to find non other then Louise, who was dressed in one of the skimpy waitress uniforms, surrounded by the other waitresses who were all praising her. Alex was the the first of the two to see the singe marks on the ground and quickly decided that he best not ask.

Just then Scarron who was standing next to the group of girls nodding along with the comments looked up and saw Alex. "Oh it it isn't my favorite white haired dishwasher!" He yelled in excitement as he ran over and quickly embarrassed Alex in a bone crushing bear hug.

"Scarron, your crushing me." Alex forced out.

"Oh, my apologies." he said setting him down. "Say your hair is half white now… and you eyes!" He grabbed Alex's head holding it back to get a better view, "You have to tell me how you got them that color!"

"Personal space please!" Alex yelled out. Once Scarron let him go Ales started to rub his cheeks to get the feeling back in them.

"Well long time no see." Jessica said walking up behind her father.

"Nice to see you guys." Alex said and then soon felt a smack on his right shoulder "What now!" Turning he saw Louise looking up at him obviously angry at him.

"You said you had to track that thief!" She barked at him now red in the face with anger.

"And I did, it just happened to be to the capital!" he argued.

"He never looked anywhere else." Guiche interjected with a devilish grin.

Alex looked over at him with a death stare only to get a shrug in response. "Just a little payback, if you can't take it don't dish it." Guiche said in reference to their first confrontation.

"You made me go on my mission alone so you didn't have to be around me didn't you!" She said smacking him again.

"Ow!" Alex winced and the smack, "You would have messed up my mission besides you did fine right?"

"You idiot!" Louise said in response and started to smack Alex some more on the arm, which lead to a round of laughter from the staff.

* * *

Sitting around a table Alex, Guiche, Scarron, Jessica, and Louise were all enjoying a round of drinks. It had taken a while to calm down Louise but eventually she came down and now the group was enjoying themselves as they laughed at Scarron's telling of Louise's short tenure as a waitress at the Fairy.

Jessica was sitting next to Alex leaned over and spoke into his ear, "I need to thank you for helping my cousin." she smiled pulling away.

"Don't worry about it, I just wanted to help a friend." Alex whispered back with a smile in return.

"I can't believe you didn't get a single tip!" Guiche laughed as the story came to a close.

"Hey! I got a large sum for the official!" She corrected.

"Yeah, but when you nearly blow his head off and give a royal decree from her highness that doesn't exactly count." Guiche said still trying to quell his laughter.

"I still won the contest." Louise pouted.

"Well she did good in my book." Alex said with a chuckle.

"A toast, to friends!" Jessica interjected raising her glass into the middle of the table.

"To friends!" The group chanted as they pressed their glasses together before taking a large swing.

As the group moved into a round of small talk Alex couldn't help but think back to his Master and what he and the rest of his Order were doing. He hadn't thought about them much since his arrival and couldn't help but feel a little homesick for his friends back home. But he was soon snapped back into to conversation when Scarron refilled his glass and demanded a telling of his rescue of his niece.

Alex laughed and quickly began to tale only for Derf to interject and correct him a few times, which got shocked both Scarron and Jessica, but they quickly adjusted to the magic sword who was now a full part of the conversation.

I the end it was a wonderful night.

* * *

The moon shone bright as the night sky provided a bit of ambient light as Kellinar looked to the stars. He had so thousands of times over, but this was different.

"Master, the other members of the Council have gathered and request your attendance." Looking back Kellinar saw one of his pupils, Shamol clad in the Orders standard Black leather armor and cloak.

"Shamol, do you know how well I know this sky?" Kellinar asked.

"I would reason better than most master." Shamol said walking up next to his teacher, "Why?"

"There is the star of both the First and Second, to the far left it that of the Fourth and Fifth, and just below the moon you can see that of the Sixth." Kellinar said pointing out each one as he when. "In all my years I have never seen that start just above the left corner of the moon there, and it shines brighter than any other in the sky."

"You're saying that the rumors are true?" Shamol said mystified.

"I have every reason to think that we are living in the first years of the Seventh star, yes." Kellinar stated bluntly.

"What is the meeting over master, the other member won't tell me anything."

"We must find the Seventh Star, for he is now the head of our order, as it has been since the days of the Fifth." Kellinar then turned and walked through the entrance back into the mountain followed closely Shamol.

"What will action will order take?"

"We will most likely send runners throughout the land to locate the Star, though be will attempt to use to Oracle to pinpoint their location if at all possible."

"It's going to be a nightmare if we need to look for them in Corvans ever since... " Shamol trailed off.

"I know you two were close, but Alexander made his choice, I couldn't stop him from the path that he chose to walk." Kellinar said putting his hands on Shamol's shoulder.

"He was a fool for going on his own." Shamol said bitterly, "If I had just known we could have done it together and gotten out Alive!"

"You would have perished with him, there is no need to torment yourself with his death as though it was your own fault. If anyone here is to blame it is me as his teacher." Patting his student on the shoulder. "Go get some rest, I will inform you of the proceedings in the morning."

As Kellinar watched him walk away he couldn't help but look back outside once more though the door way back up at the sky. "What will you hold for us Lord Seventh?"

* * *

 **Thanks once again for you guys and gals support! I don't have a story board written yet for the next chapter, but I'll update my new news feed when I have one written. If you like the story leave a fallow and fav, if you have a question, comment, or just want to give support, drop me a review and I'll respond in the latest chapter!**

 **Lot's editing to be done, do I'll get right to it! Last time if you want to help with the editing and/or writing of the story feel free to PM me!**

 **Happy 2K views!**

 **Aaron out!**


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